Random Output
A Rough Couple Of Weeks:12/16/2006
What a rough couple of weeks starting with the snow and going downhill from there. I was hit with a computer worm that would not give up. Thinking a change of antiviral software might do the trick I went out and paid 110 bucks for Norton System Works Deluxe 2006 (money I didn't have to spare) and hoped the high dollar software would save me. Not only did it fail to save me from the worm, Norton Ghost hung up and the resulting mess caused me to have to re-install Windows.
Thank You Norton (sarcasm)
I've used and loved Norton's back in the early years of computing, but it's become a fat cow. So here we go scrounging the corners for my disks and re-installing software and while it's yet finished, the machine is back and online.
I'm doing this while working overtime. Not enough overtime to get fully caught up mind you, just enough to stretch out the misery. You can eat a sandwich every day and still slowly starve to death.
On the way to work the truck broke tossing the belt. On the way home from work I ran out of battery juice, reduced to driving without lights at night. My Chevy S-10 has a single serpentine belt. This belt is tightened by a spring loaded idler pulley. Overall it's a good idea as you never have to adjust the belt tension and even changing the belt is reduced to a 5 minute quick process. However someone in the past replaced the pulley that comes in contact with belt with what has to be the cheapest made part available. Someone installed a plastic pulley with pot metal bushing. I've seen better parts installed on lawnmowers. After just getting home I pulled battery and put it on a slow charge and removed the belt tensioner assembly. A quick trip to the local parts store and 24 dollars later I installed the new steel pulley from Gates Manufacturing which uses a roller bearing.
Inkjet went dry, just at the wrong moment. It's not like it was a crisis, it was only 18 dollars to have refilled. But it was 18 bucks on to of buying software, fixing the truck, Christmas shopping which I still have not finished and tight schedules because of the overtime and damn it I just did not need one more aggervation on my plate to deal with.
Last and certainly not least my left knee is giving me problems. Christmas is not turning out well this year.