Deck Plans V: The Not-So-Final Go Around

[Captain Robert April]

Latest technical horror story: My computer decided to crap out on me the other night, and since I just lost my nifty new job and after paying the rent I'm down to around twenty bucks, it's gonna be a while until I can get the beastie fixed. I am currently on a spunky old 133Mhtz Win98 thrift store special I picked up for $8.09. Hopefully, I can cannibalize my other old system and get a little more horsepower out of this puppy, as well as access at least some of the files I need for this neverending task.

If anyone happens to have a few thousand dollars laying around that they're not terribly fond of, feel free to toss some this way.

 

[Brannigan]

I have some quatloos will that help?

 

[Sec31Mike]

Sorry to hear, Captain April.

I'd help, but all I have are Federation credits, shich won't be legal tender for another 154 years. Until then, I'm with you in the poor house.

 

[Griffworks]

Honestly sorry to hear that, CRA. I hope you can manage w/this new "clunker", if only for a while. Good luck on finding a new job and securing a new 'puter.

 

[doctorwho 03]

Let's hope this little roadblock won't stop the project for too long. It's just now starting to get interesting.

Seriously, I fully understand what you're going through. Finding a job is not an easy task, especially after losing one. Good luck to you. :thumbsup:

 

[KirkTrekModeler]

Captain Robert April said:
Latest technical horror story: My computer decided to crap out on me the other night, and since I just lost my nifty new job and after paying the rent I'm down to around twenty bucks, it's gonna be a while until I can get the beastie fixed. I am currently on a spunky old 133Mhtz Win98 thrift store special I picked up for $8.09. Hopefully, I can cannibalize my other old system and get a little more horsepower out of this puppy, as well as access at least some of the files I need for this neverending task.

If anyone happens to have a few thousand dollars laying around that they're not terribly fond of, feel free to toss some this way.

Sorry, all of my Quatloos are going into the garage and a couple of new projects I'm wprking on. Perhaps this will help though. Try www.pricewatch.com you can buy replacement parts, mother boards, mem..... anything you need and all at a very good price. I used them to buy all the components to build my wifes last computer. :thumbsup:

 

[Captain Robert April]

No news on the job front, but at least I've managed to resurrect my Frankenstein computer, which means a return to Windown XP Pro, 500 Mhtz and over 360 MB of RAM (still a far cry from my main computer, but at least it works, and it's a helluva lot better than the stone knives and bearskins I've been messing with for the past two days) along with the hard drive with all the fun files, so I'm more or less back in business.

I'm trying to look at this like a blessing in disguise. Assuming the mother board hasn't fried, I should be able to do some rather radical stuff with the other system.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Still no joy on the job front, which has got me looking into going back to school (I'm thinking about graphic design), hooking into some financial aid that will hopefully keep a roof over my head along with letting me expand my horizons.

Should I pull off this minor miracle, I hope to utilize the training and software they foolishly entrust to me to finally wrap up this marathon project, and hopefully spurce it up a whole bunch.

Now if I can just manage to get a job within walking distance (the car has decided it doesn't want to run).

So, for your viewing pleasure, a picture of a bunny with a pancake on his head.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Minor update time.

It has been determined that the problem with the car is not the computer, but the more mundane, and much more inaccessible, fuel pump, or maybe the slightly more accessible, and far cheaper, fuel filter. Needless to say, we'll try the fuel filter first and see if that clears up the problem.

As for the computer front, my main unit is still down, and my primary backup has mysteriously has some key components of Windows either disappear or just plain stop working (and there's not enough free disk space to reinstall ), so it's back to the $8 thrift store special, with the 32MB of RAM, 133Mhtz processor, and AOL 7 to at least keep up with the email. And the job front isn't much better (got a gig lined up with a local airport shuttle service, but the wait for the security badge is getting downright lethal; I'm already fighting an eviction threat in the absolutely worst time of year to go looking for rental assistance, so things at home are a teensy bit tense).

The deckplans, therefore, slumber on the hard drive on a currently dormant computer, waiting for a suitable system, and circumstances, to come along and allow me to continue this project. Worst case, I end up having to pull up stakes and set up somewhere in another state where living isn't quite so expensive.

I'm getting more and more convinced that my old roommate in California was right. We were born either two hundred years too early or too late.

 

[Captain Robert April]

For those who've been following my personal soap opera, this probably won't come as any big surprise, but here's a doozy of an update.

In short, my eviction drama has finally hit bottom, and in the process, lost the computer with all my data on it regarding this neverending project. I also lost virtually all my model kits, with but a few notable exceptions.

Philosophically, this can be looked upon as a chance to start over with a clean slate.

However, I've never been much for large doses of philosophy, so for the moment, it sucks.

The one good thing with regards to this project, however, is also the one that has probably been the most annoying to some folks, namely that I've done it publicly, with the bulk of the work posted on photobucket.com, and therefore posted here, so I won't necessarily be starting over from scratch.

So, just as soon as I can get my poor $8.09 computer put back together and online (still need a mouse, a phone cord, a power cord, power strip, and a little more understanding from my mother, whose floor I and my significant other are currently calling "home"), I might actually be able to put something together. Or at least be able to post from a computer without a time limit.

 

[FrontLine]

Im sorry to hear of all your trials and tribulations. I hope that things turn around for you in short order. Ok not to be too prying, but I thought you were married. Is that no longer the case? In either case, bust of luck to you.

 

[Captain Robert April]

It's a common law situation, and against all logic or common sense, she's sticking with me.

As for getting back online with my own computer, that'll probably have to wait until her payday this coming Tuesday.

In the meantime, I have to watch the timer on the ol' library computer...

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Man, that bites! My best wishes for a speedy recovery from your current situation, Captain Robert April.

 

[Praetor]

Captain Robert April, I'm sorry to hear about your personal hardships. Though I've disagreed with some of your notions, I've thoroughly enjoyed your work and it does indeed suck that real life has gotten in the way. Speedy recovery to you and you situation, sir!

 

[doctorwho 03]

Man, it sucks when real life gets in the way of what you really want to do. The current writers strike is a prefect example. Soon the airwaves will be filled with nothing but reality shows and new shows that won't have a chance anyway if the strike continues.

Anyway, good luck to you captain. :thumbsup: Lets hope your situation turns around soon and we can get back to these deckplans. We still have a bowling alley to install.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

The job market does basically suck in many areas right now... have you considered doing contract work? Not entirely sure what you do for a living (sorry, didn't wanna go back through the whole thread), but if it's technically-oriented, that's the best way to go right now.

Totally sucks about the eviction... but I'm not sure how you lost the computer in the process. What, did they lock you out and seize everything for auction? Most states don't allow that (they can lock you out, but not seize your property), but a few do. I tend to avoid those states...

When I got out of the service, I had a 4-year-old degree with no experience in that field, and I was living in California at the time that the defense contractors were laying off tens of thousands of engineers as part of the "peace dividend" so engineers everywhere were delivering pizzas or working in carwashes just to try to keep food on their tables. I eventually ended up packing up and moving back to Indiana and living ... yes, you heard it here first... in my MOM'S BASEMENT... for about four months! (And I'd had to part company with the woman I was involved with in California, so I didn't even have a girl to kiss at that point! And... wasn't that about the time that Shatner was on SNL? )

Seriously... it sucked. And then my first job after that sucked even worse. But it was a good resume-builder. The next job was little bit better... and so on and so on. But NO job is really stable, and nobody stays in a company in my field for more than four years anymore, really. So I've become a bit of a nomad. In fact, I've been here for two years so I'm actually starting to get a bit restless!

You've demonstrated that you have some decent technical skills. The trick is to find a job where you can apply that sort of thing and get PAID for it. From what you've said... it sounds like maybe you're thinking the same thing?

If you can find a way to get paid for the sort of thing you like doing anyway, you've found a career. Of course, you still have to deal with rotten bosses, slimy coworkers, long hours... and everything else that comes from working in the real world with real human beings. It'll get better, though. Just don't ever expect it to be GOOD. If it was always enjoyable, they wouldn't call it "work," would they? :thumbsup:

 

[Captain Robert April]

The computer was lost via the scumsucking landlords getting tired of how long we were taking to get our stuff out, and going in and clearing everything out, in to a nice big heap next to the dumpster. While I'm surprised at how much stuff we did manage to save (my old Signet Bond paperbacks, a few models), a lot of stuff was gone before we got there.

 

[FrontLine]

Sounds like its time to call the police or contact an attorney

 

[Captain Robert April]

Well, aside from our stuff not being left alone for the required 24 hours, the rest of the eviction was handled legally.

Odds are, whoever got the thing will erase everything but the porn pics.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Sketched up some nifty revisions to the intermix chamber during church today.

I'll see about getting something up sometime this week.