REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

In the garden, and RAIN!!!!

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 17:55
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Tuesday, June 16, 2020 12:24 PM

THG


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I'll be damned...

I've got two Catalytic Converters. The guy I've been watching do YouTube videos either didn't know that, or didn't bother mentioning it because that CAT isn't going to make you fail the test.

At least, I don't think it will... The 2nd one is really far downstream and close to the muffler, way past the 2nd O2 sensor. So I'm not sure how it would be able to even be tested.

But if I'm wrong and that's why the CAT test isn't initiating, I may have to bite the bullet and have somebody give my flex pipe a proper weld. At least 95% of the emissions is making it all the way down-pipe right now, but I know it can't be all of it with my temporary patch job.

The only reason I figured that out is because I was watching another auto guy I like talking about how to clean your cat and he simply threw his in a bucket with dish detergent in it overnight, and I recognized the part from the back of my car. I probably won't be able to reach and remove it with my ramps. Might have to ask around for some good jacks/stands.



I'm downloading (what I believe) is the service manual now. Time to do some real research.

If I get this to work after upping the performance beyond my expectations so far, I might just have to look into figuring out how to fix the A/C. I could probably get another 5 to 10 years out of this car.

Do Right, Be Right. :)



Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Republican congressman Tom Rice reveals he and his family have coronavirus - two weeks after he refused to wear a mask on the House floor
I'll start wearing a mask when I join your brain damaged buddies tearing down Thomas Jefferson monuments and throwing molotov cocktails at police cars. But thanks for the advice.

Oh, BTW... Friends of yours, Ted?





They all had good careers. They just wasted their lives. Hope it was worth it.




Future leaders of the world, I'm sure.


Do Right, Be Right. :)




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Tuesday, June 16, 2020 12:34 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


So are they friends of yours, Ted?

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020 5:22 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Do not get me going on cell phones. I got rid of the last one I had because I now have a landline. I will not have one again.



Quote:

Good for you.

I don't know what's worse these days, living with a cell phone in your life, or the annoyance other people have for you when they find out that you don't have one, which pops up again any time they want to text something to you and you have to remind them of that fact.

Just kidding. Having a cell phone is worse.



I hear ya. I've gotten those looks. Heck, even people my age are bad with the things. There are members of my mah jong group that have them and leave them on then in the middle of a game get up to answer them and disrupt everything. When what they should do is tell people they are busy the morning of mah jong and to just leave a message and also TURN THE DAM THINGS OFF!!

Quote:

That doesn't really appeal to me as I like music on when I am working on my computer and I know I could do both when out. But I like to not be worrying about the time and stuff if I get caught up in something.

I doubt anyone would do that for me. And I think Best Buy up here does sell some refurbished stuff. Like I said I am going to a store on Wednesday at least that is the plan. Also want to hit up a bookstore in this mall as well. Kinda kill 2 birds with one stone thing.



Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.

Do Right, Be Right. :)



I will let you know what I find out tomorrow after my little trip.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020 5:58 PM

BRENDA


The little hamburger place that is in the strip mall near the pharmacy where I get my meds was open today. The lady was so happy to see me as I was to see her and her husband working away. We didn't have much time to talk as they were busy with most places in that mall being open now, so more foot traffic. I got a hot dog and coffee and chatted with her for a couple of minutes. They and their children were all fine through this and she was relieved to see that I was.

So, that was good to see.

Guess they have been reopen for about 10 days or more.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020 8:31 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
I will let you know what I find out tomorrow after my little trip.



Cool. ;)

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020 8:42 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Anybody here ever have any experience using vinyl privacy rolls for windows?

I finally got around to putting mine up and I have to say that as long as they stay up and don't just fall down on me in a few days I'm extremely pleased with the results.


A few caveats, of course...

They're quite expensive. Not bad if you're only looking to do a few windows in one room, but if you wanted to really do them up all over your house or if you had a huge glass shower you wanted to cover you're going to be paying for it.

It's going to be really hard to find a good size for your windows unless you were really lucky.

I opted to go with the ones that were around 17" wide rather than twice that width and I'm really glad that I did. Cutting everything exactly to size was a little tricky as it was, and if I had to do it two different ways to fit a sheet it probably wouldn't have worked out as well. That being said, whatever size I bought was roughly an inch too short and I had to use cutoffs to fill in the missing piece up top.

If you do it right AND you pick the right pattern, it looks great and you can't tell it's not just one piece, but you should plan accordingly.


It's been so long since I ordered it with a few other things that I was extremely disappointed at how little I actually had. At first I thought the seller screwed me, but when I looked at my order I did get what I paid for. I must have decided to just get 1 roll and test it out first before committing to the 2 other rolls I'll need to do all the windows I want to and just forgot that's the decision I made.

So both windows in the master bedroom now have privacy at the bottom, and that's the most important spot since my neighbor's porch is high and basically can look right into the windows. You can't see in during the day of course, but if they're out there at night and I'm in the bedroom with the light on they could look right in before I put them up.



I also had enough to do the necessary cutouts to obfuscate the glass on the front door looking into the house. At one point years ago I got sick of the Jahova's Witnesses constantly knocking on my front door and since I do most of my living in the living room they could peer right in to see if somebody was home. So I had used some thumb screws to put a towel up over the window years back and just forgot about it. Boy, was that dusty.

So that's down now and you can't peer into the front door anymore, but I've also got a ton more natural light coming into the living room and it's not so dreary during the day.



There were a lot of mixed reviews about the product online, but from what I can tell it should work and won't be falling off. I think the people who complained were trying to put it up on extremely dirty windows and didn't prep them before sticking the stuff up there. Installing the big sheets on your own is going to make you wish you had 3 hands, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad.


It probably took me around 4 hours to do it though. I took great care to make cuts exactly where I needed them with my exacto blade and the finished product looks pro.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 1:46 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


LOL... Bezos scheming because Bezos.

I've played the free prime trials as often as I could recently and now they won't even offer me the cheap 1 week trial because they're on to me. It's either full price, pay for shipping or a long wait on free shipping.

Or so they'd have you believe...

"Save $x.xx on shipping and sign up for prime" it says...

The $x.xx was the default one checked if I chose to have it on Thursday. Friday shipping was free. So I chose Friday shipping.

Just got notification that it's scheduled to come tomorrow. A day earlier than if paid for the shipping, and the same day it would have shipped if I signed up for prime and paid for it this time.



Dumb, dumb, dumb...

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 6:44 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
I will let you know what I find out tomorrow after my little trip.



Cool. ;)

Do Right, Be Right. :)



Anyways got out to Best Buy and started off by talking to someone who works for Microsoft and he told me what someone in London Drugs told me. I explained that I was talking about a desktop and he said to talk to someone from Best Buy.

The young woman who works at Best Buy once I basically explained the problem again said that I need the number for my mother board then I can order a new internet card online. The card has to be an exact fit. Well, as we all know I can't do that and I mean the ordering online, so I went to see what they have in the way of desktops. Most of it is for gaming which I am not doing. Also a tower is too heavy to bring back on the bus for me.

Am thinking at the rate I am going I will have to order a tower through a local store then get a new mouse and keyboard and monitor.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 6:53 PM

BRENDA


Well, sad day when I went into the big bookstore in the big mall that I had to go to. Young woman helping me doesn't seem to know the difference between George RR Martin "Game of Thrones" and Star Wars. Had to explain that. Last book for last Star Wars movie is out but bookstore is not taking cash right now, so I will have to wait until Christmas to get a copy of it.

Will look up on their website about "The Winds of Winter" last or almost last book of "A Song of Ice and Fire". I did find 2 other "Game of Throne" books out, related.

Also found 3 Firefly novels out. WAAAHHHH!!!! for the fact that they are not taking cash. Will have to see what I get in the way of gift cards for that book store at Christmas.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 6:55 PM

BRENDA


My corner of BC is getting 3 days of sun then on Saturday THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, we get rain.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 10:45 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Hey Brenda. I want to preface this reply by saying PLEASE don't take it like I'm angry or even frustrated with you, or that I'm talking down to you.

I know that both of my grandmothers have been taken advantage of by people in the past, and that makes me FUME when I find out about it after the fact. I feel that this is what happened to you today and I'm glad you weren't pressured into buying anything.

Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Anyways got out to Best Buy and started off by talking to someone who works for Microsoft and he told me what someone in London Drugs told me. I explained that I was talking about a desktop and he said to talk to someone from Best Buy.



I'm severely confused by this statement, for several reasons....

1. You're talking to somebody at a drug store about fixing your computer?

2. There are Microsoft employees in Best Buys where you live?

(I have to ask on that second one especially since there are A LOT of people worldwide that pretend to be Microsoft employees and they are in fact scammers. I've just never heard of them operating out of a Best Buy before today).

Quote:

The young woman who works at Best Buy once I basically explained the problem again said that I need the number for my mother board then I can order a new internet card online.


Wrong. That is absolutely wrong. There is zero evidence that there is anything wrong with your internet connectivity at this point. It is always possible that your internet could be a problem as well, but without being able to have a working screen, we can't even be sure you have a keyboard problem yet. Chances are very good your internet is just fine.

If at any point we were able to get the entire computer up and running again with output to the screen and found out at this point that you needed an internet solution, they make cheap USB network adapters that you can get for under $20 to connect to the internet that are universal to all computers and you won't need to know any motherboard information or worry about getting the correct card for your motherboard.

She either has no clue how to do her job, or she's trying to sell you something that you don't need.

Please forget any advice she gave you about anything today.

Quote:

The card has to be an exact fit. Well, as we all know I can't do that and I mean the ordering online, so I went to see what they have in the way of desktops.


Yes. Any cards you get (if you need one) will have to be an exact fit. And because your system is so old, that will be tricky and in some cases even impossible to do now. This is why I haven't even directed you to investigate anything inside of the PC itself.

Not because I don't think you're not capable of doing internal work yourself if directed properly, but because the computer isn't really worth saving if it came to that. Especially since you don't care about anything that is on there currently.

This is why I suggested getting a monitor first. If we find out after you have a working monitor that the computer still doesn't work and isn't worth saving, you can use that same new monitor on a new desktop or laptop you buy afterward.

Any other stuff that Best Buy is trying to sell you might not (and probably won't) be useful if you need to buy a new computer.

Quote:

Most of it is for gaming which I am not doing. Also a tower is too heavy to bring back on the bus for me.


Yes. You don't need anything gaming related. Best Buy HUGELY over-inflates their prices, and I would never recommend that anybody buy a computer there unless there was a huge sale. If you absolutely HAD to buy something there, I would recommend their absolute cheapest system they had to offer. With what you need a computer for, it would be sufficient and you'd even notice an improvement in performance from the old machine you're used to.

Quote:

Am thinking at the rate I am going I will have to order a tower through a local store then get a new mouse and keyboard and monitor.




I know it's not possible, but I really wish that you had somebody you trusted that could help you order something through Amazon. I could do some research and I'd be able to get you a fantastic deal on something that would suit your needs compared to anything that you'd get at Best Buy.

Before you commit to anything, maybe you should check out what that local store can offer you and get back to me with what they say they'll sell you and at what price.

Unfortunately, I think you're going to be overpaying one way or another since you can't shop online. But we can still try to figure out what the best deal is and get the computer that will work the best for you.


Again, sorry if I came off dickish at all in this reply. Not my intent.



Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 10:53 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


My car is awesome now.

Not only does the new radio work without dropping the sound, but I can put my own library on it and easily update the music whenever I want to on the fly.

I also updated the maps on an old GPS system my folks gave me years ago that seems brand new and hardly ever used. I fixed my D/C power unit and now it charges on the go instead of needing to charge it in the house before I go out.


Now I'm going to pull off any music I didn't have backed up from the CDs I had in a book in the car and get rid of them and be done with CDs forever.


This car is now officially better than it was when I bought it before Obama was President.



Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:56 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Hey Brenda. I want to preface this reply by saying PLEASE don't take it like I'm angry or even frustrated with you, or that I'm talking down to you.

I know that both of my grandmothers have been taken advantage of by people in the past, and that makes me FUME when I find out about it after the fact. I feel that this is what happened to you today and I'm glad you weren't pressured into buying anything.
Quote:



No worries. I went into Best Buy to ask questions only. Had no intentions of buying anything without info.

Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Anyways got out to Best Buy and started off by talking to someone who works for Microsoft and he told me what someone in London Drugs told me. I explained that I was talking about a desktop and he said to talk to someone from Best Buy.



Quote:

I'm severely confused by this statement, for several reasons....

1. You're talking to somebody at a drug store about fixing your computer?

2. There are Microsoft employees in Best Buys where you live?

(I have to ask on that second one especially since there are A LOT of people worldwide that pretend to be Microsoft employees and they are in fact scammers. I've just never heard of them operating out of a Best Buy before today).
Quote:



1.Local London Drugs is a big store and they sell tvs, cell phones, cameras, radios, what used to be called "boom boxes" and computers. So that is why I was in there talking to their computer guys.

2. Apparently. After a minute he said, "I work for the Microsoft store, you need to talk to someone who works for Best Buy." I didn't know this before as the last time I was in Best Buy, I just went to their DVD section. He seemed legit, handling other customers and showing them products talking to the "Geek Squad" that works in Best Buy's computer section.

Quote:

The young woman who works at Best Buy once I basically explained the problem again said that I need the number for my mother board then I can order a new internet card online.


[quote}Wrong. That is absolutely wrong. There is zero evidence that there is anything wrong with your internet connectivity at this point. It is always possible that your internet could be a problem as well, but without being able to have a working screen, we can't even be sure you have a keyboard problem yet. Chances are very good your internet is just fine.



I get that Jack. But keep saying that there is something missing which is where I plug the internet cable into the back of the case.

Quote:

If at any point we were able to get the entire computer up and running again with output to the screen and found out at this point that you needed an internet solution, they make cheap USB network adapters that you can get for under $20 to connect to the internet that are universal to all computers and you won't need to know any motherboard information or worry about getting the correct card for your motherboard.

She either has no clue how to do her job, or she's trying to sell you something that you don't need.

Please forget any advice she gave you about anything today.



Okay. But I am getting a little confused again.

Quote:

The card has to be an exact fit. Well, as we all know I can't do that and I mean the ordering online, so I went to see what they have in the way of desktops.


Quote:

Yes. Any cards you get (if you need one) will have to be an exact fit. And because your system is so old, that will be tricky and in some cases even impossible to do now. This is why I haven't even directed you to investigate anything inside of the PC itself.

Not because I don't think you're not capable of doing internal work yourself if directed properly, but because the computer isn't really worth saving if it came to that. Especially since you don't care about anything that is on there currently.



I do care but as I said writing is all done long hand and typewritten. Pictures are on a USB.

Quote:

This is why I suggested getting a monitor first. If we find out after you have a working monitor that the computer still doesn't work and isn't worth saving, you can use that same new monitor on a new desktop or laptop you buy afterward.

Any other stuff that Best Buy is trying to sell you might not (and probably won't) be useful if you need to buy a new computer.



I guess then I should think about the monitor first then go from there.

Best Buy didn't try to sell me anything else. When I asked about Desk tops all the girl did was point to where they had 1 tower that would be useful to me and I had a look at their monitors which most were for gaming.

Quote:

Most of it is for gaming which I am not doing. Also a tower is too heavy to bring back on the bus for me.


Quote:

Yes. You don't need anything gaming related. Best Buy HUGELY over-inflates their prices, and I would never recommend that anybody buy a computer there unless there was a huge sale. If you absolutely HAD to buy something there, I would recommend their absolute cheapest system they had to offer. With what you need a computer for, it would be sufficient and you'd even notice an improvement in performance from the old machine you're used to.


No, I don't. Most games I play on this thing I am using is a solitaire site and a mah jong site that I like. Nothing fancy in the least.

Quote:

Am thinking at the rate I am going I will have to order a tower through a local store then get a new mouse and keyboard and monitor.




Quote:

I know it's not possible, but I really wish that you had somebody you trusted that could help you order something through Amazon. I could do some research and I'd be able to get you a fantastic deal on something that would suit your needs compared to anything that you'd get at Best Buy.

Before you commit to anything, maybe you should check out what that local store can offer you and get back to me with what they say they'll sell you and at what price.

Unfortunately, I think you're going to be overpaying one way or another since you can't shop online. But we can still try to figure out what the best deal is and get the computer that will work the best for you.


Again, sorry if I came off dickish at all in this reply. Not my intent.



Do Right, Be Right. :)



I wish I could get some help too. But like I said I called my IT guy over a week ago and left a message. So, I am stuck doing things on my own(as per usual) and piece by piece.

I was thinking of going back into the store again tomorrow and grilling them again. I need it explained to me more carefully but sometimes I'm not sure I'm completely understanding.

I think I mentioned this up thread that the one monitor London Drugs have was $129 Canadian so with taxes I am probably looking at $160 Canadian. Though Walmart had a monitor for $88 Canadian and that would be about $100 Canadian with taxes.

No, you don't Jack. You are trying to help me and sometimes I just not sure if my brain is really understanding what you are telling me.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:44 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
1.Local London Drugs is a big store and they sell tvs, cell phones, cameras, radios, what used to be called "boom boxes" and computers. So that is why I was in there talking to their computer guys.



Oh, lol. Our drug stores branch out a little bit from just drugs, but they don't sell computers or have computer guys... at least none of them around me do.

Quote:

2. Apparently. After a minute he said, "I work for the Microsoft store, you need to talk to someone who works for Best Buy." I didn't know this before as the last time I was in Best Buy, I just went to their DVD section. He seemed legit, handling other customers and showing them products talking to the "Geek Squad" that works in Best Buy's computer section.


Hmmm... Maybe they have Microsoft guys at the Best Buy by me now too. I rarely ever shop there anymore unless I spot something on a really good sale or I'm in desperate need of something. I think I've been in a BB maybe twice in the last 10 years. I'm just always wary of anybody claiming that they work for Microsoft. My mom got scammed by people based in India claiming to be Microsoft support.

Quote:

I get that Jack. But keep saying that there is something missing which is where I plug the internet cable into the back of the case.


If your motherboard doesn't have a port for the internet on it and requires a separate card, it's EXTREMELY old. I don't think that's the case.

Does the back of your computer have a port that looks like the one highlighted in the following image?



If it does, you plug your router directly into that and you'll have internet.

Quote:

Okay. But I am getting a little confused again.


Me too, but we'll figure this out.

Quote:

I do care but as I said writing is all done long hand and typewritten. Pictures are on a USB.


I'd like to get all that work back for you too. But we won't know if we will be able to do that until you have a working monitor.

Quote:

I guess then I should think about the monitor first then go from there.




Quote:

Best Buy didn't try to sell me anything else. When I asked about Desk tops all the girl did was point to where they had 1 tower that would be useful to me and I had a look at their monitors which most were for gaming.


Yeah. You don't need any high priced monitor. Just make sure that it has the VGA and HDMI ports on it. The VGA is what you need for your current computer, and the HDMI port will be for when you decide to upgrade or we find out we just can't fix the old one. That way you're not wasting money getting a monitor that you can't use in the future.

Quote:

No, I don't. Most games I play on this thing I am using is a solitaire site and a mah jong site that I like. Nothing fancy in the least.


If your old computer can handle everything you wanted to do before, i can guaranty that the absolute cheapest computer that Best Buy has right now will be able to do anything you want it to do.

Quote:

I wish I could get some help too. But like I said I called my IT guy over a week ago and left a message. So, I am stuck doing things on my own(as per usual) and piece by piece.

I was thinking of going back into the store again tomorrow and grilling them again. I need it explained to me more carefully but sometimes I'm not sure I'm completely understanding.

I think I mentioned this up thread that the one monitor London Drugs have was $129 Canadian so with taxes I am probably looking at $160 Canadian. Though Walmart had a monitor for $88 Canadian and that would be about $100 Canadian with taxes.

No, you don't Jack. You are trying to help me and sometimes I just not sure if my brain is really understanding what you are telling me.




$100 sounds perfect, as long as the monitor is big enough for you. $160 is good too. I'll just stress again that any monitor you purchase needs to have VGA and HDMI. Outside of that, the only reason you should put any more money into it is if the more expensive one is larger and you want a larger monitor. Any other "frills" outside of the ports and the monitor size will be meaningless for your purposes.









......


I've been thinking about your "internet" thing. I'm starting to wonder if you had a modem AND a router on your old setup and no longer have the second thing you used to plug stuff into, and maybe that's where the confusion is coming from. It's possible you upgraded at some point and now have a Router/Modem combination unit (which most of them are these days), and you're looking for the 2nd thing that used to be in between and you don't have (or need) it anymore.

Please check the back of the PC and see if you have that port in the picture above. As long as you have that port than any modern modem that you're using for your internet on your laptop will plug directly into it.



Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 3:16 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


Brenda, I'm really confused at this point.

Aside from all the other things that have come up since then, did you ever find out for sure the monitor is a problem? Because it seems to me that before you can even try anything else, if your monitor truly is busted, you need to replace it. (And a new monitor will be handy anyway even if the old computer is defunct.)

The other thing I gather is that, in general, you're trying to assemble all the parts together, which is why the mouse and keyboard topics came up, the USB port, and now the inet connection. I think you got the mouse and keyboard connections figured out (the sea green and lavender ports), so if you have a mouse and a keyboard with those color-and-shape connectors, you're golden! The small rectangular USB memory stick/ flash drive port is a no-fail thing to try, if it's the wrong one it won't fit, and if it's a sort-of wrong one, it won't work; but in either case nothing will get broken. The inet connection looks like a really heavy-duty telephone line connector, with the little clip-lever on the side of it and all. Sort of like this

I realize the person who originally built your system sounds like kind of a geek, so perhaps there may be some non-standard parts to it.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 4:30 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


There might be one reason that the monitor can't be easily replaced, and that was when PC's were made with that short-lived fad called the VESA local bus (approx 1992). If the PC was built around that time, it may have a non-standard video card. I don't remember what the back of the PC looked like but the VESA connector looks like this. (Looks pretty standard to me, but I can't tell from the picture.)




BRENDA, how old is the PC? Is is back from around 1992-1993?

If not, I agree with SIX and KIKI: Monitor first. You can't find out anything about the PC until you have a monitor. And even if you discover that the PC is dead, you can always use the monitor with a new PC, or even with a laptop



-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 4:56 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Well, I had a lovely day! It started out by me waking up at noon, which is unheard-of! But I guess I needed it, and I was blessedly well-rested when I got out of bed.

So since the weather was cool and cloudy, I got to putter around in the old veggie garden, which is a hobby and not really necessary "family-work", and spent a couple of hours taking out another two lima bean towers. I thought I had only one to take out, but once I hacked my way thru the jungle back there I found another one. Apparently I had put up six towers, not four, which is why it was so overgrown and tangled. Also, I had to be pretty careful what I was grabbing onto because they had tangled up with a climbing rose, so the thorns were an issue. But I did leave up one tower so I could get seeds for next year.

Veggie garden is growing well. I harvested the first zucchini yesterday and see a lot growing. The herbs have been a real benefit, as I can run out and snip some parsley or basil or thyme as I need it.

Anyway, tomorrow in back to the grind, but this was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:19 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Hey SIX, I wanted to say CONGRATS on the car!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:38 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
1.Local London Drugs is a big store and they sell tvs, cell phones, cameras, radios, what used to be called "boom boxes" and computers. So that is why I was in there talking to their computer guys.




Oh, lol. Our drug stores branch out a little bit from just drugs, but they don't sell computers or have computer guys... at least none of them around me do.
Quote:



I'm going to take your last post to me bit by bit as I will most likely make a hash of it if I answer it straight out.

If I sound grumpy forgive me, I am in a bit of pain today. Over did it when I got home yesterday and right hip is driving me batty. But things to do.

London Drugs is a big chain store up here. You can find them pretty well all across Canada. They are the only drug store that sells stuff like that. The rest of the drug stores stick to magazines, cigarettes, candy, a few toys, some books, bit of food items, cosmetics, non-prescription reading glasses, vitamins, baby stuff and support stuff for walking or fixing your home up if you need help like that. Then they do prescriptions as well.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:40 PM

BRENDA


Out for a walk to check out the cheap monitor and try and talk to someone else in London Drugs about this again.

Also sunshine.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:42 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Out for a walk to check out the cheap monitor and try and talk to someone else in London Drugs about this again.

Also sunshine.

YAY sunshine!

In a way, it's too bad that you don't have a smart phone, bc you could take a picture of the back of your PC and find the right connector for your monitor. Do you have a digital camera?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 2:30 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
I'm going to take your last post to me bit by bit as I will most likely make a hash of it if I answer it straight out.

If I sound grumpy forgive me, I am in a bit of pain today. Over did it when I got home yesterday and right hip is driving me batty. But things to do.



No worries. Take your time.

I understand how frustrating things like this can be even if you're not in pain. You didn't have to deal with me while I was dealing with the car. You only read a brief day-by-day synopsis of it with most of the frustration filtered out.

Quote:

London Drugs is a big chain store up here. You can find them pretty well all across Canada. They are the only drug store that sells stuff like that. The rest of the drug stores stick to magazines, cigarettes, candy, a few toys, some books, bit of food items, cosmetics, non-prescription reading glasses, vitamins, baby stuff and support stuff for walking or fixing your home up if you need help like that. Then they do prescriptions as well.



Yeah. I get it now. With the other stuff going on in the post I was just thinking to myself that I needed clarification that you weren't talking to a Pharmacist about computer problems.

No offence, but I find that I'm twice as likely to overestimate people's abilities as I am to underestimate them. Glad everything checks out.







I'll just throw a quick list of stuff to tackle on the computer without any explanations involved that you can go back and reference, so we can make the steps clear. Because of your level of computer knowledge, the inability to order stuff online and the potential that your friend won't get back to you in a timely matter, I'm going to avoid suggesting doing anything at this point about troublshooting inside of the case, at least until we have a working monitor.

Since Signy and Kiki are both involved, they may confirm this is a good list.



1. Buy a monitor with both VGA and HDMI outputs.
(Shown in picture below)


2. Verify you have the necessary port on the back of the case for internet. (Highlighted in image below)


IF THE RESULT IS THE COMPUTER NOW BOOTS UP AND YOU CAN SEE IT:

3. See if keyboard and mouse work. If not, we'll replace one or both.

4. Plug in your existing internet cable into the back of the case if you have both the old cable and a place to plug them in. Then we'll get you online.

5. At any point during the process pick up a few USB thumb drives because they're so cheap and you can make multiple backups of all of your work.



IF EITHER THE MONITOR DOESN'T FIX THE PROBLEM, OR YOU DON'T HAVE A WAY TO PLUG IN THE INTERNET:

We'll figure out what to do when we get to that point.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 2:45 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
There might be one reason that the monitor can't be easily replaced, and that was when PC's were made with that short-lived fad called the VESA local bus (approx 1992). If the PC was built around that time, it may have a non-standard video card. I don't remember what the back of the PC looked like but the VESA connector looks like this. (Looks pretty standard to me, but I can't tell from the picture.)


BRENDA, how old is the PC? Is is back from around 1992-1993?

If not, I agree with SIX and KIKI: Monitor first. You can't find out anything about the PC until you have a monitor. And even if you discover that the PC is dead, you can always use the monitor with a new PC, or even with a laptop



-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK





If we're dealing with a 28 year old computer, it's time to just throw that in the trash.

I'm not even joking about that one.



A computer that old likely has a hard drive that is 1/3 the capacity of a CD Rom, only has around 4MB of memory and wouldn't even be capable of running Windows 95, let alone Windows 10.



The only way the computer that old would have specs much better than that would be if it was an actual server at some point, but it would have had PCI slots and a proper VGA/SVGA port on it. The reason that they did the VESA LB for only a few years is that most home market computers did not have the (at the time) very expensive PCI card slot tech on the mother board and the VESA was a proprietary solution for updating the graphics to the new standards the VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) was trying to accomplish around that time.




Although I have yet to find a definitive YES answer to can you plug a standard VGA monitor into a VESA Local Bus slot, I'm almost 100% sure the answer would be yes. Though a different color plastic where the pin holes are, they're both the same shape/size and they both have 15 pins.

It seems to me as though this was a stop-gap solution to bring new tech into the homes of the consumer and still keeping the computers (relatively) affordable until the PCI slots were cheap enough to put on all home computer mother boards. (That being said, it seems there were complaints about things like screen tears and display not working as it should, which should be expected when taking cheap shortcuts).

It wouldn't make any sense for them to go out of their way to do all of that just to pass savings along to the consumer and then require them to buy an expensive monitor that would have to be put on a separate assembly line and manufactured specifically for these PCs.




Honestly, if all of the above is true, it's possible my original computer had a VESA Local Bus and I never even knew it. We got it in 1993, and who knows what warehouse the HSN dug it out of before they screwd my mom on the price.

I don't even know how that one happened as I don't remember my mom ever even watching HSN let alone making impulse buys on it. I do remember her talking about the videos of whales that they were showing on the computer from Encyclopedia Britannica that came with it. Those whales must have mesmerized her while she was channel surfing or something.

And I certainly wasn't going to complain. Finally got that PC I wanted since I was a little kid.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 2:55 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Hey SIX, I wanted to say CONGRATS on the car!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK




Thanks!

I've got to figure out somewhere long to drive to now that isn't just a joyride. I'm pretty sure this thing is legit roadworthy now and I want to test that out. It's so nice on my short trips having a relatively silent car that accelerates and shifts gears properly with a radio that doesn't drop out every 15 seconds and make me panic that all the grounds in the car are bad. Oh, and GPS for the guy who can't navigate his way out of a paper bag.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 6:27 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:


Quote:

2. Apparently. After a minute he said, "I work for the Microsoft store, you need to talk to someone who works for Best Buy." I didn't know this before as the last time I was in Best Buy, I just went to their DVD section. He seemed legit, handling other customers and showing them products talking to the "Geek Squad" that works in Best Buy's computer section.



Hmmm... Maybe they have Microsoft guys at the Best Buy by me now too. I rarely ever shop there anymore unless I spot something on a really good sale or I'm in desperate need of something. I think I've been in a BB maybe twice in the last 10 years. I'm just always wary of anybody claiming that they work for Microsoft. My mom got scammed by people based in India claiming to be Microsoft support.



They must do now because as I said the last time I was in this store, I just went to the DVD section looking for something and couldn't find it anyways. And that was end of last year.


Do Right, Be Right. :)


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Thursday, June 18, 2020 6:41 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

I get that Jack. But keep saying that there is something missing which is where I plug the internet cable into the back of the case.



If your motherboard doesn't have a port for the internet on it and requires a separate card, it's EXTREMELY old. I don't think that's the case.

Does the back of your computer have a port that looks like the one highlighted in the following image?



If it does, you plug your router directly into that and you'll have internet.



I looked at the back of the computer last night but I couldn't tell anything. Brain and eyes didn't want to work together. Looked again when I got home today and there is no port like the one outlined in the picture. That I can see now is what is missing.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 6:49 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:

Quote:

Okay. But I am getting a little confused again.


Quote:

Me too, but we'll figure this out.


Not sure if I am glad that you are confused with me or not. But then your brain isn't over the age of 50 or suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury as the doctors like to classify what happened to me just over 30years ago now.



Do Right, Be Right. :)


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Thursday, June 18, 2020 6:57 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

I do care but as I said writing is all done long hand and typewritten. Pictures are on a USB.


Quote:

I'd like to get all that work back for you too. But we won't know if we will be able to do that until you have a working monitor.

Quote:

Yeah. You don't need any high priced monitor. Just make sure that it has the VGA and HDMI ports on it. The VGA is what you need for your current computer, and the HDMI port will be for when you decide to upgrade or we find out we just can't fix the old one. That way you're not wasting money getting a monitor that you can't use in the future.


Got that.

Do Right, Be Right. :)


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Thursday, June 18, 2020 7:02 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

No, I don't. Most games I play on this thing I am using is a solitaire site and a mah jong site that I like. Nothing fancy in the least.


Quote:

If your old computer can handle everything you wanted to do before, i can guaranty that the absolute cheapest computer that Best Buy has right now will be able to do anything you want it to do.


It did. I was using it when I found that solitaire site and mah jong site.





Do Right, Be Right. :)


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Thursday, June 18, 2020 7:25 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Brenda, I'm really confused at this point.

Aside from all the other things that have come up since then, did you ever find out for sure the monitor is a problem? Because it seems to me that before you can even try anything else, if your monitor truly is busted, you need to replace it. (And a new monitor will be handy anyway even if the old computer is defunct.)

The other thing I gather is that, in general, you're trying to assemble all the parts together, which is why the mouse and keyboard topics came up, the USB port, and now the inet connection. I think you got the mouse and keyboard connections figured out (the sea green and lavender ports), so if you have a mouse and a keyboard with those color-and-shape connectors, you're golden! The small rectangular USB memory stick/ flash drive port is a no-fail thing to try, if it's the wrong one it won't fit, and if it's a sort-of wrong one, it won't work; but in either case nothing will get broken. The inet connection looks like a really heavy-duty telephone line connector, with the little clip-lever on the side of it and all. Sort of like this

I realize the person who originally built your system sounds like kind of a geek, so perhaps there may be some non-standard parts to it.



No, I didn't but I have bought a new monitor that I will deal with once all the pain I am in is gone. Hopefully the weekend.

Mouse and keyboard are plugged into the tower but don't appear to be functioning.

Blair had several geek friends and I know they helped him when he had problems.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 7:31 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

$100 sounds perfect, as long as the monitor is big enough for you. $160 is good too. I'll just stress again that any monitor you purchase needs to have VGA and HDMI. Outside of that, the only reason you should put any more money into it is if the more expensive one is larger and you want a larger monitor. Any other "frills" outside of the ports and the monitor size will be meaningless for your purposes.









......


I've been thinking about your "internet" thing. I'm starting to wonder if you had a modem AND a router on your old setup and no longer have the second thing you used to plug stuff into, and maybe that's where the confusion is coming from. It's possible you upgraded at some point and now have a Router/Modem combination unit (which most of them are these days), and you're looking for the 2nd thing that used to be in between and you don't have (or need) it anymore.

Please check the back of the PC and see if you have that port in the picture above. As long as you have that port than any modern modem that you're using for your internet on your laptop will plug directly into it.



Do Right, Be Right. :)



I did bite the bullet today and buy the $88 one at Walmart. It came out to $105 and some change Canadian. It does have VGA and HDMI. I will deal with it over the weekend as I am in too much pain to do too much bending. Just getting out of my computer chair is a chore.

Blair just had a modem for it as it was his work computer.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 7:46 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
There might be one reason that the monitor can't be easily replaced, and that was when PC's were made with that short-lived fad called the VESA local bus (approx 1992). If the PC was built around that time, it may have a non-standard video card. I don't remember what the back of the PC looked like but the VESA connector looks like this. (Looks pretty standard to me, but I can't tell from the picture.)




BRENDA, how old is the PC? Is is back from around 1992-1993?

If not, I agree with SIX and KIKI: Monitor first. You can't find out anything about the PC until you have a monitor. And even if you discover that the PC is dead, you can always use the monitor with a new PC, or even with a laptop



-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK



The PC must be from around 1992 as he was still working then.

Bought new monitor today and will deal with it when I am not in so much pain.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 7:47 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Out for a walk to check out the cheap monitor and try and talk to someone else in London Drugs about this again.

Also sunshine.

YAY sunshine!

In a way, it's too bad that you don't have a smart phone, bc you could take a picture of the back of your PC and find the right connector for your monitor. Do you have a digital camera?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK



Sunshine is great.

SIG, I do not own anything resembling any kind of camera.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 8:03 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
I'm going to take your last post to me bit by bit as I will most likely make a hash of it if I answer it straight out.

If I sound grumpy forgive me, I am in a bit of pain today. Over did it when I got home yesterday and right hip is driving me batty. But things to do.



Quote:

No worries. Take your time.

I understand how frustrating things like this can be even if you're not in pain. You didn't have to deal with me while I was dealing with the car. You only read a brief day-by-day synopsis of it with most of the frustration filtered out.



Good. It is. Ah yes, sanitizing your posts. I've been cursing under my breath off and on today because of the pain I am in. And if I am cursing then you know I am in some real pain. I have a fairly high tolerance for it.

Quote:

London Drugs is a big chain store up here. You can find them pretty well all across Canada. They are the only drug store that sells stuff like that. The rest of the drug stores stick to magazines, cigarettes, candy, a few toys, some books, bit of food items, cosmetics, non-prescription reading glasses, vitamins, baby stuff and support stuff for walking or fixing your home up if you need help like that. Then they do prescriptions as well.



Quote:

Yeah. I get it now. With the other stuff going on in the post I was just thinking to myself that I needed clarification that you weren't talking to a Pharmacist about computer problems.

No offence, but I find that I'm twice as likely to overestimate people's abilities as I am to underestimate them. Glad everything checks out.

Quote:



No worries. You probably don't have a real good idea what some stores look like in Canada or what store chains are Canadian even. And some stores are different depending what part of Canada you are in. Because of the lockdown in Western Canada, we just had a 105 year old business I think it was go under. It was called "Army & Navy".

None taken. I know my brain doesn't always work the way I want it to anymore. I sort of accept that and after whenever I started on this again, I think I am now finally starting to understand it all.







I'll just throw a quick list of stuff to tackle on the computer without any explanations involved that you can go back and reference, so we can make the steps clear. Because of your level of computer knowledge, the inability to order stuff online and the potential that your friend won't get back to you in a timely matter, I'm going to avoid suggesting doing anything at this point about troublshooting inside of the case, at least until we have a working monitor.

Since Signy and Kiki are both involved, they may confirm this is a good list.



1. Buy a monitor with both VGA and HDMI outputs.
(Shown in picture below)


2. Verify you have the necessary port on the back of the case for internet. (Highlighted in image below)


IF THE RESULT IS THE COMPUTER NOW BOOTS UP AND YOU CAN SEE IT:

3. See if keyboard and mouse work. If not, we'll replace one or both.

4. Plug in your existing internet cable into the back of the case if you have both the old cable and a place to plug them in. Then we'll get you online.

5. At any point during the process pick up a few USB thumb drives because they're so cheap and you can make multiple backups of all of your work.



IF EITHER THE MONITOR DOESN'T FIX THE PROBLEM, OR YOU DON'T HAVE A WAY TO PLUG IN THE INTERNET:

We'll figure out what to do when we get to that point.

Do Right, Be Right. :)


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Thursday, June 18, 2020 9:35 PM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:

No, I didn't but I have bought a new monitor that I will deal with once all the pain I am in is gone. Hopefully the weekend.

Mouse and keyboard are plugged into the tower but don't appear to be functioning.

Blair had several geek friends and I know they helped him when he had problems.

I feel your pain! Well, not your pain exactly, but I understand how big a bite pain can take out of your life.

I hope you feel better soon.

I personally had back pain which had me almost unable to move, and I do mean at all, not even able to move my arms and legs. Since then it's been better, then worse ... again; which is where I am now. But a heating pad seems to keep it from getting so bad I'm completely non-functional. I mention it because perhaps that would work well for you, too. However, one does need to make sure to not get burned, which has happened to people I know! Because it's a low(ish) temperature burn, the problem is you don't feel it, and it can do/ has done a lot of damage, creating deep burns.

Signy recommends those chemical heating packs which release a slow, low temp heat (no burn risk) for a long time, at least 8 hours. But the adhesive might not be completely effective, so Signy recommends medical tape, perhaps like the gentle paper tape, as well as elastic wraps like for sprained joints, to keep it in place and make sure it has good skin contact.

If you're like me, every time something like that happens, it's not just painful. And it doesn't just make every little thing one does in life excruciating and take a long, long time. It's very demotivating. It's like you can't count on being able to manage anything, or do anything, from start to finish. Because it happens over, and over, and you know that at any time, you can get laid up from pain. So I hope your optimism and hopes don't suffer from this.

In the absence of being able to do anything physical, perhaps you could use this time to plan and organize your next efforts, at least in your head! Or if your memory is for sh*t like mine, on paper!



Anyway, I hope you feel better soon, Brenda. In the meantime, take good care of yourself. And please let us know how you're doing.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 10:26 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Brenda: Pain?

Er... don't try anything complicated when you're in pain! It's as bad as driving drunk, or working dehydrated, or doing anything when sleep-deprived: BAD THINGS HAPPEN.

If there is anything we can do to help, let us know.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 10:32 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


KIKI: You too? Let me know if I can help!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 11:41 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:

No, I didn't but I have bought a new monitor that I will deal with once all the pain I am in is gone. Hopefully the weekend.

Mouse and keyboard are plugged into the tower but don't appear to be functioning.

Blair had several geek friends and I know they helped him when he had problems.

I feel your pain! Well, not your pain exactly, but I understand how big a bite pain can take out of your life.

I hope you feel better soon.

I personally had back pain which had me almost unable to move, and I do mean at all, not even able to move my arms and legs. Since then it's been better, then worse ... again; which is where I am now. But a heating pad seems to keep it from getting so bad I'm completely non-functional. I mention it because perhaps that would work well for you, too. However, one does need to make sure to not get burned, which has happened to people I know! Because it's a low(ish) temperature burn, the problem is you don't feel it, and it can do/ has done a lot of damage, creating deep burns.

Signy recommends those chemical heating packs which release a slow, low temp heat (no burn risk) for a long time, at least 8 hours. But the adhesive might not be completely effective, so Signy recommends medical tape, perhaps like the gentle paper tape, as well as elastic wraps like for sprained joints, to keep it in place and make sure it has good skin contact.

If you're like me, every time something like that happens, it's not just painful. And it doesn't just make every little thing one does in life excruciating and take a long, long time. It's very demotivating. It's like you can't count on being able to manage anything, or do anything, from start to finish. Because it happens over, and over, and you know that at any time, you can get laid up from pain. So I hope your optimism and hopes don't suffer from this.

In the absence of being able to do anything physical, perhaps you could use this time to plan and organize your next efforts, at least in your head! Or if your memory is for sh*t like mine, on paper!



Anyway, I hope you feel better soon, Brenda. In the meantime, take good care of yourself. And please let us know how you're doing.



The pain does take a chunk out of my life. The last time my lower back into my hips felt this bad was a couple of months after I moved into this new place and I decided to move my over 100 year old trunk. The movers had put it under the card table where my laptop is and the lock was facing the wall. It was pretty empty at the time BUT this trunk is solid wood with metal fixtures on it and so even almost completely empty, heavy.

The time before that was in the bad place and I had to change the lightbulbs in the bathroom. I pulled all the muscles on my right side from my neck through my ribs. Getting up and down from my computer chair was miserable for a good couple to several days.

Had a heating pad but it just died and haven't got another one. I do have a hot water bottle that I might use tonight around my right hip.

So, I've been moving pretty slow today and will be tomorrow I would imagine.

Organizing my next move is what I am doing and working on another Firefly story that I started a few days ago. I posted the first part.

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 11:44 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Brenda: Pain?

Er... don't try anything complicated when you're in pain! It's as bad as driving drunk, or working dehydrated, or doing anything when sleep-deprived: BAD THINGS HAPPEN.

If there is anything we can do to help, let us know.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK



Yes, Sig. Me in pain. I decided yesterday to clean the bathtub and put too much strain on my right leg. The leg itself isn't bad but my hip joint is not happy with me.

Going to try and be careful for the next couple of days.

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Friday, June 19, 2020 12:11 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

I get that Jack. But keep saying that there is something missing which is where I plug the internet cable into the back of the case.



If your motherboard doesn't have a port for the internet on it and requires a separate card, it's EXTREMELY old. I don't think that's the case.

Does the back of your computer have a port that looks like the one highlighted in the following image?


If it does, you plug your router directly into that and you'll have internet.



I looked at the back of the computer last night but I couldn't tell anything. Brain and eyes didn't want to work together. Looked again when I got home today and there is no port like the one outlined in the picture. That I can see now is what is missing.




Is there a big gaping hole there or something then?

If a card was removed, there will be a big hole. It doesn't even make sense that somebody would remove that card since there would be absolutely no reason anybody would ever do that.

If you never had a port that looked like that in the first place, you didn't get on the internet with that computer. It's far too old for wi-fi.

You've only got 2 USB ports. I suppose you could have been getting on it wirelessly, but I'm starting to doubt it if you say the computer is possibly from 1992.

(EDIT: Just Googled it. USB wasn't even invented until 1994, so the computer is at least that "new".)

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Friday, June 19, 2020 12:16 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
The PC must be from around 1992 as he was still working then.



What operating system is it using?

Windows 3.1?

Unless it was an extremly expensive machine from 1992, it can't even run Windows 95, which means that it couldn't run Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10.

I'm trying to figure out what exactly you were even able to do with this thing besides typing in notepad.

Quote:

Bought new monitor today and will deal with it when I am not in so much pain.



Oh good. I really want to get to the bottom of this now. My curiosity is piqued.

Sorry about the pain. I hope you feel better after some rest.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Friday, June 19, 2020 12:22 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Good. It is. Ah yes, sanitizing your posts. I've been cursing under my breath off and on today because of the pain I am in. And if I am cursing then you know I am in some real pain. I have a fairly high tolerance for it.



I live alone. I'm always cursing out loud about one thing or another.

Quote:

No worries. You probably don't have a real good idea what some stores look like in Canada or what store chains are Canadian even. And some stores are different depending what part of Canada you are in. Because of the lockdown in Western Canada, we just had a 105 year old business I think it was go under. It was called "Army & Navy".


Oh, I'm sure there's some things I take for granted as "normal" around here that would make you laugh. I just never would have thought that a drug store would have computer guys until you told me they do by you.

Quote:

None taken. I know my brain doesn't always work the way I want it to anymore. I sort of accept that and after whenever I started on this again, I think I am now finally starting to understand it all.


No worries. I found myself derailing my own train of thought when talking to my grandma on the phone today and asking her "how did I get on that topic? I had a point..." Then I realized I was asking my 87 year old grandmother that question and chances are if I talked to her about the same thing tomorrow she'd think it was the first time I told her about it.



But hey... you got the monitor. At least we should be able to see if your computer will boot up still and figure out what we need to do next when you're feeling better.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Friday, June 19, 2020 12:28 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Paperwork and PC file maintenance day for me here.

Finally said my final goodbyes to 3 more hard drives and got the magnets out of them. That *should* be the last of them for the time being. Looking at the huge stack of super strong hard drive magnets I've accumulated and realized that I've cannibalized a ton of those things over the last few years now. I don't even want to know how much money was spent on them.


I was able to get rid of a ton of papwerwork I didn't need too, which leaves me with about half of a smallish plastic tote with all the papwerwork left in the world that has my name on it. Feels good to finally get that done.


Had me a big old burning party and got rid of everything else that had my name on it.


Should only be one more day of file maintenance and transcribing whatever is important from a few notepads to the PC and I'll be all done with that. Another job that was a few years in the making almost done.





Got a lead on a gutter guy. Going to fix the fascia on the front of the house next week and get in contact with him and the gutter company. If I help him out I hopefully can get a good price for his labor.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Friday, June 19, 2020 3:32 AM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:

I get that Jack. But keep saying that there is something missing which is where I plug the internet cable into the back of the case.



If your motherboard doesn't have a port for the internet on it and requires a separate card, it's EXTREMELY old. I don't think that's the case.

Does the back of your computer have a port that looks like the one highlighted in the following image?


If it does, you plug your router directly into that and you'll have internet.



I looked at the back of the computer last night but I couldn't tell anything. Brain and eyes didn't want to work together. Looked again when I got home today and there is no port like the one outlined in the picture. That I can see now is what is missing.




Is there a big gaping hole there or something then?

If a card was removed, there will be a big hole. It doesn't even make sense that somebody would remove that card since there would be absolutely no reason anybody would ever do that.

If you never had a port that looked like that in the first place, you didn't get on the internet with that computer. It's far too old for wi-fi.

You've only got 2 USB ports. I suppose you could have been getting on it wirelessly, but I'm starting to doubt it if you say the computer is possibly from 1992.

(EDIT: Just Googled it. USB wasn't even invented until 1994, so the computer is at least that "new".)

Do Right, Be Right. :)



Okay, where you would plug in an internet cable is covered over and I said that there is a hole in it where an "internet or video card" should be.

He was using a modem with this thing but I doubt he ever used and it does have USB ports on the back of it. He had another large external drive that he used for his work files.

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Friday, June 19, 2020 3:37 AM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
The PC must be from around 1992 as he was still working then.




What operating system is it using?

Windows 3.1?

Unless it was an extremly expensive machine from 1992, it can't even run Windows 95, which means that it couldn't run Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10.

I'm trying to figure out what exactly you were even able to do with this thing besides typing in notepad.
Quote:



It probably started out Windows but then Blair found Linux and he had it running on that. Linux isn't used much in BC, so I had my IT guy flip the system back to one of the Windows but I don't remember now what he told me. I had him do it over 3years ago now.

Quote:

Bought new monitor today and will deal with it when I am not in so much pain.



Oh good. I really want to get to the bottom of this now. My curiosity is piqued.

Sorry about the pain. I hope you feel better after some rest.

Do Right, Be Right. :)



I am using a hot water bottle tonight on my hip when I go to bed and hopefully that will help.

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Friday, June 19, 2020 3:43 AM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Good. It is. Ah yes, sanitizing your posts. I've been cursing under my breath off and on today because of the pain I am in. And if I am cursing then you know I am in some real pain. I have a fairly high tolerance for it.



I live alone. I'm always cursing out loud about one thing or another.

Quote:

No worries. You probably don't have a real good idea what some stores look like in Canada or what store chains are Canadian even. And some stores are different depending what part of Canada you are in. Because of the lockdown in Western Canada, we just had a 105 year old business I think it was go under. It was called "Army & Navy".


Oh, I'm sure there's some things I take for granted as "normal" around here that would make you laugh. I just never would have thought that a drug store would have computer guys until you told me they do by you.

Quote:

None taken. I know my brain doesn't always work the way I want it to anymore. I sort of accept that and after whenever I started on this again, I think I am now finally starting to understand it all.


No worries. I found myself derailing my own train of thought when talking to my grandma on the phone today and asking her "how did I get on that topic? I had a point..." Then I realized I was asking my 87 year old grandmother that question and chances are if I talked to her about the same thing tomorrow she'd think it was the first time I told her about it.



But hey... you got the monitor. At least we should be able to see if your computer will boot up still and figure out what we need to do next when you're feeling better.

Do Right, Be Right. :)



I live alone too and so I am too cursing about things around me as well.

London Drugs isn't your little average drug store like where I go and get my meds. You could fit at least two average sized stores into it and maybe have a little bit of room left over.

It happens as we get older.

Yes, that is next on the agenda but not until I can properly bend over without being in pain.

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Friday, June 19, 2020 4:57 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:

It happens as we get older.

I'm not QUITE at the stage of making lists of lists, but I can definitely imagine it in my future! I do find it kinda' funny as a concept, though. Besides, watcha' gonna' do?

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Friday, June 19, 2020 10:53 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Okay, where you would plug in an internet cable is covered over and I said that there is a hole in it where an "internet or video card" should be.



Well... I'll be damned. It does sound like somebody removed that card. I just can't figure out why. They're not worth anything. Motherboards have had them on the board for two decades now. Most motherboards in the last 5 to 10 years even had wireless internet capabilities built in. I can't even remember how long ago I had to purchase an internet card.

Did you, personally, ever get online with this thing? How long ago was that?

I know that you use your laptop to get on the internet, but I thought you also used this thing for internet too. Now I'm thinking that was a miscommunication on my part and you never did.

Quote:

He was using a modem with this thing but I doubt he ever used and it does have USB ports on the back of it. He had another large external drive that he used for his work files.


Well... if we're going to make this thing work at all for you, we're going to have to make the best possible use of those USB ports. That means that we cannot use those USB ports for your mouse and keyboard.

If we can't find you a keyboard/mouse with the pink/green PS2 connectors at the end, they do make these...

https://www.amazon.com/Oxsubor-PS2-USB-Female-Converter/dp/B01N5MYE72/
ref=pd_lpo_147_t_2/138-7030405-2277526?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N5MYE72&pd_rd_r=d8baafb1-747b-411a-9244-b90033a6174d&pd_rd_w=pO8hL&pd_rd_wg=t68J6&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=AJFGM840RM28CHPNCE8R&psc=1&refRID=AJFGM840RM28CHPNCE8R


I'm not sure where you'd get them if not online, and I think they'll cost quite a bit more than $6 for the set of them though, I'm afraid.


I think we're going to want to use one USB for a wireless internet stick and one for your regular USB storage thumb drive. But since we're talking about a PC this old, chances are it uses a very, very old version of Windows that wouldn't have the drivers for them and we'd have to make sure they even worked with the PC.



Honestly, I'm hoping that your keyboard and mouse do work now, because I think your best bet is just to get this thing up and running so you can get your information off of it before you buy a new desktop PC where you won't have any of these issues. A new one will have wireless internet built in and have more USB ports than you'd know what to do with.




I hope you feel better. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Friday, June 19, 2020 1:53 PM

BRENDA


Gotta go out for my walk and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts.

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Friday, June 19, 2020 1:55 PM

BRENDA


Quote:

Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:

It happens as we get older.

I'm not QUITE at the stage of making lists of lists, but I can definitely imagine it in my future! I do find it kinda' funny as a concept, though. Besides, watcha' gonna' do?



With my brain I have to make lists or I will forget something. Learned that years ago.

Okay I am out for my walk.

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