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Unfortunately, the A/C on the ZX2 is back to not-working mode. Jesse definitely thinks the clutch has to be replaced. The 90+ degree days are making it tough out there; I saw about 130 parcels yesterday but only about 90 today. Part of that was spending an hour at a horse boarding place looking for structures that were demo-ed, replaced, or simply mis-described by people in the past. The property owner was stunned to find out that there were two non-existent in-ground pools listed for his property. The saving grace was that both were given values of $0. Go figure.
So I tells ya, go on-line if you can and look up your tax card for your house. Read what somebody has said is there.
Tonight Jesse came over and tore apart Nurse Mixy's dashboard and replaced the burned out dash lights. She's been driving for over a year with no lights in the dash -- when she wanted to see how fast she was going, she would open her cell phone and read the speedometer from the glow.
Ingenuity. My kids exercise alternative strategies. Chips off the old blockhead.
I guess the iMac can stay on 42/7 now. One thing for sure -- the Apple 20" display is much crisper than the Samsung 23" display on the Mini.
For the past several weeks the ZX2 has been making squealing/rumbling/grinding noises. Since the A/C was not working, I blamed that on the A/C clutch. Jesse, however, pointed out the other day that the water pump pulley was wobbling.
The water pump was replaced just 8 months ago, when the new timing belt was installed. Whooda thunk it would go bad so quickly? At least it was under a 1 year warranty.
So we replaced it. The engine is again quiet. And, Jesse tapped the A/C clutch with his finger, and the A/C kicked in. It is also still working. We have a few 90 degree days scheduled for this week -- the A/C should help.
This afternoon I pulled the power supply out of the iMac G5 and went after the last of the capacitors that have been identified as potential troublemakers. It was the 10mf 50V part that had its leads soldered right next to a bunch of surface-mount components. Being a shaky sort of fellow at my age, I was a little afraid to stick that 1/4 inch wide 80W tip into the midst of all those nearly microscopic pieces-parts, but the job went surprisingly easily.
After putting the power supply back into the case, I plugged in the cord and was rewarded with a steady green light from the power indicator LED - the one that had been lighting up and then fading away. It stayed green, so I pressed the internal diagnostic switch and watched the next two lights take off to the accompaniment of the chime.
It's been running for about 3 hours now, and is barely warm at the top vents, fan almost inaudible. I'll leave it running overnight.
I have not been able to migrate my iCal files back -- the Mini logs into all the other machines on the local net but they can't seem to connect to the Mini. That will be the next adventure.
The Biology teacher in me shakes his head, mutters, laughs a little, then shakes his head again.
Congressional hearings are to be held on the link between the Great Salmonella Egg Recall and the farms where the eggs were produced. The CEOs of the companies that produce and sell the eggs must appear before Congress to explain. Why has no one called for a Congressional investigation of the American public, questioning how it could possibly elect such morons?
OK, chicks, time for your Biology lesson review.
Subject : Birds. Birds are not people. Birds are not mammals. A bird is a super-modified winged snake, and can also be viewed as a type of warm-blooded toad with feathers.
Birds, snakes, and toads reproduce by laying eggs. Chicken eggs are unborn chickens. If your mommy and daddy gave you the "birds and bees" lecture on human reproduction, you probably have some of your facts wrong.
Human females have separate plumbing for reproduction and pooping. Human females hatch (yeah, that's a stretch, I agree) their eggs inside and the babies are laid from the front orifice. When they are finished digesting food, they poop out the waste from the back orifice -- the anus.
Chickens, however, are single-oriface critters. Their plumbing has a cloaca (Latin for sewer) which exits at their anus. When they lay an egg, they poop it out through the anus. When they finish digesting food, they poop that out through the very same anus. Disgusting as you may think that to be, it is what it is.
Therefore, people who handle chicken eggs carelessly, or eat them raw or even inadequately cooked, subject themselves to potential danger. That fact is understood by every little kid that grew up on a farm. It is understood by every informed adult. It is not understood by Congresscritters. Anything coming out of a chicken's anus is likely to be contaminated. Simple common sense.
One final word. This post will undoubtedly earn me some fan mail about using the word "poop". Too bad. It is a perfectly good English word, and when it is used, there is no mistaking what is meant. If "poop" offends you that badly, try going a few days without it.
Now I know I'm in trouble...
We will now see how well this works. I added the button for posting this blog to Facebook. Rather than logging in there to see what is going on, I'll just hit the button when I think I have something important to say. Or not so important. Whatever. Then anybody who sees it on Facebook can email me or write a comment if they are so moved. Arrogance on my part, I will admit, but I really do need to cut down on the frittering away of my time.
I have to admit that FaceBook is addictive. It is a very good way to keep in touch with oodles of poodles. Unfortunately, it is also a fantastic way to waste time as you read all the news you really didn't need to know.
I set up the FaceBook account as a means of reaching out during my primary campaign for Congress. However, as noted above, it has turned into a time consumer, and ultimately has made me less productive in terms of articulating my ideas. Ha! We are now all less intelligent due to my use of FaceBook -- contagious stupidity has struck.
So, since there is now a FaceBook app that allows blog posts to show up, what I propose to do is severely limit my FaceBook visits and instead spend more time with this blog and with hRubik's hRramblings.
Update time. I have not been able to spend any additional time working on the Speedex. The swarm of bees weakened and has died out; that has me puzzled, but I think part of the problem was a leaky feeder and attacks by robber bees. I did spend some time on the raised beds; that should pay off in seasons to come.
The iMac is still in the morgue, very dead, but I have hopes for its resurrection. Meanwhile, a new Mac Mini has been doing the work, displaying to a 23" Samsung HDTV. That is a very sweet combination.
It is raining right now -- a steady, thorough soaking rain, the first like this we have had in weeks. In fact, it has very much the feel of a fall rain. Even though it is late August, the leaves have been starting to turn. The days have been hot, but the nights very cool; tomatoes have had trouble ripening.
Stay tuned for more.
