AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!!

The title pretty much sums it up nicely, thank you.

I was tired of this computer not having sound. It crashed a little while back and I simply couldn't figure out why sound wasn't working. Directly related to the fact that there was no driver for the ethernet controller - regardless of the fact that I had downloaded the d*** thing, I gave up on it and today, decided to simply reformat the computer and reinstall Windows XP.

I only have a few documents on here that I wanted to save, so I just copied and pasted all of them and put them in an email to myself.

Went through all there is to reinstalling Windows - and STILL couldn't get the friggin' sound to come on. HOW did I get sound to work every other time? Interesting question. I then found a blurp on the Dell site about downloading compenents in the right order/sequence. Oh??????

I did the installation ALL over again. Rather than fooling with it, I just dumped everything all over. This time, I went to Dell's site and re-read the sequence for installing the drivers/controllers and walaaaaaaah, SOUND again! What, may I ask, is a computer without sound? BORING. Lol.

Of course, that means having to reinstall all this other software including the video surveillance system. I keep those discs in a very safe and secure place - I doubt I could replace that sureveillance software disc, and even if I could, it would have to come from China where it was shipping from in the first place and I would undoubtedly have to pay for it. Same with Windows XP operating system - $100 for that sucker, no intention on buying that piece of work again.

So, a pain in the rear, but the intended result was accomplished.

I spent literally hours on this little project. I'm no computer geek, I just muddle my way through things and hope that what I want to do actually occurs at the other end. I do wish I could afford to simply go to the nearest community college - all of 2 miles away - and take courses on all kinds of computer related things, as I'm pretty much tired of being in the dark and having to guess and take stabs at things and go the reeeeeally long way around to getting something done when I don't know how to do something. It can take me hours or even days or even WEEKS to figure things out. I've had no formal education on computers or the internet or html code or anything. It's really starting to get to me.

Though, I can say that whatever I learn, I pretty much can do over and over again. When it takes you THAT long to figure something out, it stands to reason that you aren't going to forget how to do it, or at the very least, remember what site you found the info on HOW to do something.

Umm, well I did plant my little Christmas tree, but I have one more to put in the ground. Now that I have THIS finished, I think I'll go out and do that right now, still 45 minutes before game-time.
ben

Saturday/The Mary Factor

My apologies to the new readers to my blog, there are certain things I write about that I just take for granted that everyone knows what's going on.

Mary would be one of them. In July of 2008, I placed a room rental ad in Craigslist. This particular ad had a header that included the following: "Work for reduced rent". I wrote up my "normal" ad and then added a descriptor of the work factor. A person could move in and do some work around the house and get $100 knocked off their monthly rent. No, I remember now, I stated the rent could go as low as $250 per month depending on how much work the person did, but that regardless of how much work the person did, the rent would not go below that number.

So, I'm sitting here thinking about that and decided the next day to delete that ad. People had responded to the ad, but not for the work, they just liked the location. My location is a mile away from a huge industrial park where lots of people are employed, and then 3 more miles away a lot more of it. I'm maybe 8 miles at most to downtown Phoenix. I thought that having someone working around here could potentially create huge problems in a person attempting to determine how much work is worth how much money. Decided I didn't want that kind of headache and did go ahead and delete it.

So Mary responds via email to the ad. Yada yada yada, and she comes over to take a lookittheplace. This was like a week after I had placed and deleted that reduced rent ad and then immediately placed a "regular" ad. So, Mary looks around and then we sit down at my kitchen table to start talking. I insist on having some time to talk the person - the longer the better - to get a feel for what they're about. Mary is a very crafty person, has been down the street and around the block several times, at least. She didn't reveal or say anything that would send up any flags.

At the end of the conversation she brought up the reduced rent. I was surprised because she never said anything about it in her email and waited until the last to say anything about it. I informed her I had deleted the ad because I thought it would create the potential for problems, but then said it would be okay. Why not - see what becomes of it. Live and learn type of thing. I very clearly stated at that point that I could NOT go below $300 per month. She changed her mind and said she didn't want to do that, anyway and would just pay me the regular rent.

She moves in, and then goes out front to start working. Said she wanted to do some work to lose some weight.

Well, I'll give Mary credit that her work has accomplished a lot of stuff around here. Mary is an insomniac - she'll often be up late at night, working on her room or working outside or doing something. Mary started in on that dirt thing that was called my front yard and plugged away at it in the heat of July, August and several more months, in fact, really, all the way up to now, levelling it, picking up rocks from the back and carrying them out front, and planting some plants.

Meanwhile, of course, issues with rent started to unfold with her. She paid a small amount and then it was two MONTHS before I got anything else. I was wishy-washy as to whether to keep her or chuck her out - she was doing a LOT of work, yes, but money is more important for my situation. Still is.

I also ended up getting all those plants during this time. I planted most of them, actually - she did plant quite a few out front, but I planted them around the side and the back of the house and decided to plant some of the ones I wanted for the front out there as well, including digging that giant hole for that 36 inch box tree - that took days and days of digging in that rocky ground.

The problems with Mary are her lack of feeling that rent is of any importance and some of the bizarre behavior that she exhibits from time to time, though recently, much more frequently. Last night, Ken (the other room mate) and I were sitting out here talking it up. Ken will sit there and talk for hours and hours if you are in the mood for it - last night I was in the mood. Ken perfectly HATES Mary. Mary is quite intolerant of him, though he's not done a friggin' thing to her.

So, he brings up the subject of Mary. He is talking VERY loud. I'm thinking Mary can hear this conversation - and I'm thinking that's a good thing, she can get an uninhibited feel for what people are thinking of how she's acting around here. Ken is just a loud speaker - that's normal for him. In the course of this conversation, I remembered that Mary had placed a deadbolt on her new door and hadn't given me a key. I LOUDLY brought up the fact that if that thing wasn't removed by today and a regular door handle be put in there, AND I get a key, I was going to drill that sucker right out of there and leave the door open.

Lol. Mary leaves and comes back later with a new doorset in hand. I have yet to receive a key, but I expect that to be coming shortly, or I will be drilling that out of there as well. I had informed Mary that a deadbolt inside of the house on a bedroom door looks very tacky. I'll give Mary credit that between her and the guy she hired to come in and do the work, the door, the frame and all of it is looking pretty good at this point. Even Ken was admiring the handiwork. So, I gave loud kudos to Mary as well for all the quality work she has done around here - since we had a good half hour plus at her expense talking about the crap she's been doing. I figure Mary heard most of the important things. Will that actually do anything to change her behavior? Who knows.

The conversation then changed. Ken is an atheist. I don't ask people for their religious credentials when they come into my house. If a person is an atheist and wants to engage in a conversation like that with me, that person will be hearing in great detail the things of the Lord and my view of it. We hashed that one out without getting into a fistfight for well over an hour. Lol. In the real world, I am not going to talk an atheist out of being and athiest and and athiest is not going to be talking me out of my Christianity. So, we left that conversation on the table just before it might start getting heated up, but it was an interesting dialogue. It was actually a very interesting night last night. Ken wanted me to take him to a Karoake bar. No thanks, not into it.

So it's Saturday. A couple of NFL games slated for later on (it's still early, I go to bed early every night, even on the weekends 99% of the time) and I will definitely be watching all however many hours of it.

I'm watching Tank again. I haven't watched this dog in a long time. He's got more energy than 10 of me. He's a little over a year old and is a Boxer mix. Mostly Boxer. I started my techniques with him again immediately last night when the owners dropped him off. I'm not dissing them - but they have no clue how to train a dog. I would have to say that most people don't. Without using "violence", I had him sitting and laying down within the first hour. Right now, he's sitting with the rest of the dogs - all lined up staring at me. I had all 5 of them lined out last night in a row. Dogs are allowed to go crazy - OUTSIDE, not inside. Tank is one of those untrained dogs that does whatever he pleases wherever he pleases to do it. At least he's housebroken. It's a short gig, but I'll take it. I'll take whatever pennies I can get on any kind of side job right now.

I'm just waiting for the sun to come up. I have several things I want to do outside including planting this little pine tree I bought at Home Depot during Christmas. It cost all of $3.99. It doesn't like the little cup it's in and I need to get it into the ground before it starts dying. I have another one, a little bigger, as well. It was on sale more than half off the day Christmas was over. I have no further need of plants, I want trees now. Not that I can afford them, but if some place has a really good sale on them, I'll spend the dollars to get one. I'm also wanting to take down that fencing I put up to keep the dogs out. It's very unsightly and now that I have the chain link fence up - even if only temporarily - the dogs cannot get over there. They have tried, it's a MUCH larger and stronger fence and I effectively have my dog free zone. I will be happy just getting that stuff done this weekend along with my normal weekend cleaning chores. There will be football on and the only thing that is going to stop me from watching it is if Direct TV goes out or the power goes out. Then I'll get into my car and head up to a sports bar and sit there for half a day if I have to!

I think this entry has gone on long enough. C'ya later and - have a great Saturday!
ben