Maybe Pandora has PMS ... Post Maintenance Sissiefits

Wellll ... Pandora the Dell Inspiron laptop is home, but she ain't happy yet, and neither am I. She came home with a brand new solid state 500MB harddrive which was supposed to make her lightning fast, but the fact is, she's as slow as she ever was -- still overheating (fans running up to max several times per minute, and now the case feels hot to the touch, which it didn't before it was "fixed"), and if you pop open the Task Manager and take a peek at the numbers...

Hmm. CPU Usage is 100%, physical memory is 80%, with nothing but a browser running, and spiking as high as 88% when she's trying to do something for me -- like copy a picture over, or open a file. Can't be right. She just came from the shop, and the trouble started instantly the updates were made to Service Pack 1. It's not a virus; not anti-virus software; not "too many processes" running in the background. There's nothing to account for it --

And you just wait till you want to open, close, copy or move a file! You can twiddle the thumbs for half a minute before the CPU finds enough cycles to accommodate the poor old user.

Soooo, I'm thinking about sending a message to the technician who did the job, bouncing the numbers off him and asking if he wants to take another look. Just to be safe, I'm spending a lot of this weekend backing up files in case the best option is the nuclear one: the fabled command line, "Format C:" ... sends shivers down the spine, dunnit? The thing is, the system takes so long to copy files. Is taking about an hour per gig to transfer stuff to the external harddrive. Which can't be right. And it means a comprehensive backup is a long, long, long job with the constant risk of the computer cooking itself.

Not much I can do about getting tech support on Saturday afternoon, so I'm going to go putter in the garden, make some tea and take a book outside. It's a glorious winter's day, warm and sunny with a brilliant blue sky and everything starting to bloom in preparation for spring. The big furry caterpillars have already hatched. These guys --

Must upload some garden pictures here. Note to self ... soon as this computer can handle the graphics.

Pandora, put the lid back on the box before ... too late.

There's just something missing. Can't quite put my finger on it. Isn't there supposed to be a laptop here??

Tuesday, and there's STILL a gaping hole where Pandora ought to be; I'm STILL borrowing Dave's computer -- which is the wrong setup for me. There's good news and bad news...

The good news: Pandora the Dell Inspiron notebook will be home either late today or early tomorrow.

The bad news: the original harddrive was "worn out" and had to be replaced. Well after six years of continuous use, no real surprise there. Cost to fix: A$330, which will put in  a  500GB solid state HDD, so she'll come back lightning fast. But I'll need to spend two days doing updates to the OS, and another day installing software, so it could be as late as the weekend before I get my oars back in the water. Urk.

Before anyone asks: yes, there is another computer sitting right beside the empty space where Pandora ought to be. That's Thor Junior, or Son of Thor: the custom-built super-system Dave got me for Christmas about five and a half years ago. It's the system I use for CG artwork; and it was deliberately designed to function in "quarantine." It has no modem ... never gets viruses because it's never exposed to the interwebs; never stuffs itself up, because it can't go online and download updates, and unwanted upgrades. In other words, after five years it's never suffered any malady whatsoever and is in exactly the same pristine condition as it was on the day it woke up. But as for using it for Internet stuff?? No modem.

(Or, to put it another way, 99% of the grief we suffer via computers comes in through the modem. You wouldn't believe the peace and quiet you enjoy when a computer doesn't have one. Talk about smooth runnings.)

Right now I have one hope: that there'll be no data loss during the migration to the new drive. Because if I lose data, what I'll actually lose is a lot of creative writing -- short stories and novellas, and notes/outlines for new stories. Why didn't I back it all up before putting the laptop into the shop?? Because I thought it was going in to get the fans cleaned and the heat sink checked. Anyway, the specialist swears up and down that there will be no data loss, so I'm going to have a little faith: worst I can do is lose my bookmarks and passwords, as stored in Opera, right? Right.

The MRI Experience, Part Three: Getting the results

You wait a week for your GP to have time available to tell you, you don't actually have a  brain.. Aliens stole it years ago and replaced it with a cauliflower, and -- what's worse -- nobody noticed. (See here and here for the first two parts in this story)

Actually, you wait a week for your GP to come back from a well-earned holiday with his kids and tell you, your brain scans are totally normal, so we have zero idea of why you're dizzy and have constant headaches --

-- and here's me, in profile, looking like something out of Curse of the Mummy, proving that beauty really is skin-deep, and demonstrating how amazing it is to see the inside of your own head! This is just so fantastic...

...when's the last time you saw the inside of your head? I had a CT scan about eight years ago -- for the same problem of chronic headaches -- but the detail shown on those is little, if any, better than you'd see on an old-fashioned x-ray. Cool.

Anyway, the test results are "normal," so now the question is, where the [deleted expletive] are these symptoms coming from? In a few weeks' time, I expect I'll option the consultation with a neurologist, and we'll go from there.

For comparison purposes, here's the exterior scan, positive rather than negative, and color:

...LOL, a selfie in the car on the driveway, while I was waiting for Dave last week. No squillion-dollar equipment required. Wouldn't you know it? There's a brain behind those cucumber frames after all (thank you, Eric Morcambe). 

How high's the water, Mama?

"How high's the water, Mama?"

She said, "Stop asking stupid questions, kid -- get a bucket and start bailing."

I said, "But it's five feet high and rising, and I'm only four foot ten."

She said, "So wear the boots with the thick soles."

But seriously now, and with all due apologies to Johnny Cash --

THERE'S WATER IN IT!!

The Mt. Bold spillway at Clarendon, South Australia

So much rainfall in so short a time ... the Mount Bold Reservoir was spilling. The dam effectively stops the Onkaparinga River, so for much of its length a watercourse that must once have been half a mile wide is reduced to ponds. But once in a very long time there's so much rain --

The Onkaparings River, at River Bend Park, Clarendon

 -- the river runs again. I've been here 46 years, and this is the first time I ever saw proper water in this riverbed, rather than just green puddles. While I was getting these pictures I spoke to an older gent who had a very, very nice camera kit (Canon EOS, drool, drool) ... he also was photographing the event, while scores of locals showed up to gawk. According to the photographer, the last time this river ran like this was the year his son as born. And his kid is 37.

Mature trees have grown up in the riverbed since the last time it ran -- and some look like they're being washed away. Wouldn't be surprised if the city doesn't have to take some out soon, after the floodwaters have gone down...

Meanwhile, undaunted, parrots are nesting in River Bend Park's trees ... we've been wondering if we were going to get an early spring. The mimosa is already going berserk (kerchoo!) though it didn't bloom till late August and early September in the recent past. We still have a month of winter to go, but it's as if plants and animals are getting an early start, perhaps because the land itself knows summer will be a beast, and whatever you're going to do, you better do it before the fun starts...

The sun broke through as Dave and I headed back to the car -- wouldn't you know it? You always do 90% of your photography in overcast, crappy conditions, and juuuust as you get back in the car the clouds part and the sun shines! Dang. Try again. |

And yes, more rain is forecast. So -- Cue Johnny Cash...