Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Still going.

Like the Energizer Bunny, my old desktop computer is cranking along. Beating its little drum and spinning around as it treks down the road.

My replacement machine from Dell doesn't even ship until April 30, and then it will take another week to get here, likely. Althought the company headquarters is just up the road a piece in Round Rock, the computer is probably being assembled in Sri Lanka. Or maybe Manilla.

But meanwhile the warning signals emanating from the old beast have been recognized, and I think its days are numbered. Perhaps in the single digits! But hopefullyI'll get another two weeks out of it.

I said earlier I was taking this death-watch one day at a time, but now I fear it may be down to one keystroke or mouse click at a time. At least the taxes are done, the files are all backed up, and most other preparations for the imminent demise are complete.

Now, if I just don't get hit with a copyright infringement suit for that picture above...

7 comments:

robotjam said...

Duke I hope you didn't use your old computer to order your new one. If you did I imagine it will corrupt all its data just out of spite at the most inconvenient time.

Anonymous said...

John, if you plan on transferring items over, hope that the old one stays fit. It's not a hard process with Vista, but you'll need a USB connector (made for transfers) that is compatible with Vista. The one I bought wasn't and I ended up using DVDs. It still worked okay.

Duke_of_Earle said...

Rob: No, I used Carol's laptop and my computer at my work office. I don't think that will prevent my old desktop machine from gumming up the order though, because we KNOW that all these machines communicate with each other. When the box arrives from Dell (assuming that they ever ship me anything!) it'll probably contain a new television. Or a package of loose chips, wires, and other hardware, with "Some assembly required" printed on the packing slip.

Steve: Based on your posts about those issues, I included in my order from Dell a "Windows Vista USB data transfer cable." What I'll actually GET, however, is anybody's guess (see Rob's comment above).

Anonymous said...

John, did you hear about the problems Intuit had with their servers this week? Apparently the servers choked and a lot of people trying to file taxes with their software got shut out!

:-)

On a somewhat related note, I've vented my spleen about FSAs on my blog -- will be very interested in your take on them.

Monica said...

I'm sorry I haven't been by in awhile...I still really enjoy your writing. It's been a hectic month (for a lot of people).

Wishing you and yours the best.

kenju said...

John, I hope that the old computer stays healthy until you can strip it of its data.

Nankin said...

I dunno. When I orderd my laptop from Dell, they said it would be a minimum of two weeks, but it came in 3 days. And I'm not that far from where you are.