The Blackburn Digest

To thoroughly butcher a quote: “Once can be accidental, twice can be a coincidence, but three times is positive proof that I have the “Kiss of Death” when it comes to Dell - - -at least Dell Service!

For anyone who missed the Day Two activity; A second Dell tech arrived at the old homestead yesterday. His mission (since he chose to accept it) was to replace the mother - board (Well, now I know that the external power port is firmly attached to the mother - board!) and install a new cover before the LCD screen and the computer decided to part company! Umm, would you believe . . . . .the cover which Dell shipped doesn’t fit on my lap top??!! Day Two/strike two!

O.K. - taking several deep, calming breaths - - -focusing, focusing - - - Dell has over-nighted all of the wrong parts, so maybe I’ll have the right part installed on Friday, right?

RE: Recent issues with my Dell Inspiron 1150. . . . I think we’ve reached an acceptable (actually remarkable solution with Dell Tech Support, but I’m not going to hold my breath - - -it could be hazardous to my health to do so!

One of the problems has been around for quite a while - the external power supply. Granted, it started with a cat. . . go figure!! One of my fur-kids chomped mightily (without injury to whichever cat) on the power cord. We tried, twice, to replace the cord/external power supply with eBay purchases; although all of the numbers matched, my laptop refused to recognize either one of them! I’m not casting aspersions on eBay or their dealers - it turns out there are at least three “breeds” of Inspiron 1150 and each has its own favorite “voltage signature”!!! Our eventual solution to very frequent “low battery” messages (Hey! Wait up! I thought I was on house power!!) was good ol’ duct tape on the original cord!

It’s almost 8 AM, and I should be doing. . . . .well, actually, anything but watching Nature frolic in my back yard!

There are two orders sitting in my Tower, waiting to be filled (before the much larger order arrives from a dealer); a small amount of laundry has spontaneously self-replicated into a large mound (”Don’t try this expiriment at home, folks”)and serving dinner tonight requires that I actually get busy composing a menu and shopping list! There’s more on the To Do list, but. . . . .

Watching the feeding stations is sooooooo much more fun! “Our” bunny was the first critter to venture forth this morning, followed by sparrows, titmice, a few chickadees, finches, doves (of course! They’re San Antonio’s answer to the pigeons in San Francisco!), lots of cardinals, two sassy blue jays - - - and the painted bunting put in another appearance! (I hadn’t spotted it in a couple of days, so that’s a relief!).

According to Wikipedia, a Theater of war is described as “In warfare, a theater or theatre is normally used to define a specific geographic area within which armed conflict occurs. ”

In general, I am one of the least politically-minded people I have yet to encounter. That’s not necessarily a good thing (or a bad thing, for that matter!) I “came of age” with the Viet Nam war still raging. . . “Never fight a land war in Asia” (movie: The Princess Bride”) comes swiftly to mind! I do believe it is every citizens duty to protect our country - I believe in the values and meaning of our nation’s flag; proof of that belief is the proud display of the flag which covered my brother’s coffin.

Until last Monday (4/3/06), I had two pairs of jeans in my closet; one blue denim (covered with the paint & glue residue of various home improvement and dollhouse miniature creations) and one black (stained with silver and white paint from a miniatures workshop - go figure). Both pairs were purchased somewhere near 23 years ago (!), when I had destroyed one-too-many pairs of slacks painting/gardening/making miniatures and Tom decided I needed to broaden my wardrobe horizons:-)

Odd as it may seem to some, I didn’t own a pair of “jeans” until I was in my senior year of high school! They weren’t blue denim, and they weren’t paid for by my parents (they weren’t something I “needed”)- they were brown, Western cut with snazzy belt loop detailing, fairly pricey (being purchased at a specialty shop in the then-thriving Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles), painfully saved for out of my allowance and babysitting fees and bought specifically for our Senior Outing up to the snowy reaches of ??????????? (Hey! We’re talking 40+ years ago! Who could remember where?!) What I DO remember is that I wore them exactly once!

“Garmie” is my new Garmin StreetPilot i3 GPS unit; measuring a scant 3″ x 2 1/2 “, it’s a powerful, smart little critter! It “talks to” up to 13 satellites to keep me on the right path, and is WAAS enabled. Though small, the display screen is quite easy to read when it’s mounted on my dash-board; because it’s small, it doesn’t interfere at all with driving visibility. It also has a “voice”, so I can watch the road instead of the display screen.