09 January 2011
Fireworks
09/01/11 14:21
This was a week of fireworks.
It started early. I had been called to the resort because the phones in one wing were down. I found the power supply had failed. Now think back a week or two when we got all that rain. Well actually you don't have to think back too far as it's still raining, just not quite as hard as before. Anyway the basement of this particular wing has a bit of a seepage issue. There was a couple of millimetre of standing water in the corner where our phone and networking equipment are. They are up on a table so they won't get wet, but I have to stand in this water when I'm working on the systems.
So a few days later I slipped the new power supply in, checked all the connections, and turned the phone system back on. Immediately there was a loud bang, a flash and spray of sparks and smoke out the front of the case.
This is not the sort of thing you want to encounter when you're standing in water.
A different card had failed. We ordered a replacement and it arrived on Friday. This time to be safe I hit the power switch with a yardstick while standing on a 5 gallon bucket but there were no further surprises and the system is working again.
This same week I was configuring a new system at the Nanaimo office. When I plugged it in there was a bang and smoke from the power supply. (So THAT'S why the company got it so cheap on e-bay). Add to this the main board in our stove failing for the second time and I'm starting to think that maybe there's some kind of weird circuit board voodoo curse I'm sending out.
But we did get the stove fixed this week. The first thing we made was a pizza. We bought a frozen thin crust pizza. (Or in french Pizza a' Croute Mince Au Feu de Bois. The French can't say anything quickly.) I did notice that it said Quattro Formaggi (four cheese in Italian) on both the English and French labels, which I found rather amusing. Strangest of all though, it also said "Wood Fired" on the box. The thing is though, I'M COOKING IT. There is no wood, there is no fire. Just a stove and electricity. How can a frozen pizza that I cook be 'wood fired'.
I thought that was strange.
It is a new year. This week Marsha said "My resolutions this year are to eat better and for us to spend more time together." "What a coincidence" I replied "mine are to eat more junk food and spend time by myself".
Sometimes Marsha really doesn't like my sense of humour.
And finally this week was my birthday. I turned fifty. Marsha wanted to make a big deal out of it but I said no. First, turning fifty isn't really that important. At fifty Col Sanders had not opened a single restaurant and Grandma Moses had not yet picked up a paintbrush. On the other hand, Mozart, well… he had been dead for 15 years. Fifty is really not significant. The other reason is that every party that I've been to celebrate one of these 'big' birthdays has degraded into a series of jokes about older guys 'plumbing problems'. As when I turned forty (which must be what, twelve or thirteen years ago now), I can live without going through that.
So you all have a good week. We'll be here not shovelling snow or scraping windows. It's even supposed to be sunny for a bit today.
Pix:
Neck Point Park
A Pileated Woodpecker was making a goodly racket in one of the trees.
The rising sun silhouetted the trees.
The point at Neck Point Park and three closeups
Closeup A
Closeup B
Closeup C
Looking north up the island
It started early. I had been called to the resort because the phones in one wing were down. I found the power supply had failed. Now think back a week or two when we got all that rain. Well actually you don't have to think back too far as it's still raining, just not quite as hard as before. Anyway the basement of this particular wing has a bit of a seepage issue. There was a couple of millimetre of standing water in the corner where our phone and networking equipment are. They are up on a table so they won't get wet, but I have to stand in this water when I'm working on the systems.
So a few days later I slipped the new power supply in, checked all the connections, and turned the phone system back on. Immediately there was a loud bang, a flash and spray of sparks and smoke out the front of the case.
This is not the sort of thing you want to encounter when you're standing in water.
A different card had failed. We ordered a replacement and it arrived on Friday. This time to be safe I hit the power switch with a yardstick while standing on a 5 gallon bucket but there were no further surprises and the system is working again.
This same week I was configuring a new system at the Nanaimo office. When I plugged it in there was a bang and smoke from the power supply. (So THAT'S why the company got it so cheap on e-bay). Add to this the main board in our stove failing for the second time and I'm starting to think that maybe there's some kind of weird circuit board voodoo curse I'm sending out.
But we did get the stove fixed this week. The first thing we made was a pizza. We bought a frozen thin crust pizza. (Or in french Pizza a' Croute Mince Au Feu de Bois. The French can't say anything quickly.) I did notice that it said Quattro Formaggi (four cheese in Italian) on both the English and French labels, which I found rather amusing. Strangest of all though, it also said "Wood Fired" on the box. The thing is though, I'M COOKING IT. There is no wood, there is no fire. Just a stove and electricity. How can a frozen pizza that I cook be 'wood fired'.
I thought that was strange.
It is a new year. This week Marsha said "My resolutions this year are to eat better and for us to spend more time together." "What a coincidence" I replied "mine are to eat more junk food and spend time by myself".
Sometimes Marsha really doesn't like my sense of humour.
And finally this week was my birthday. I turned fifty. Marsha wanted to make a big deal out of it but I said no. First, turning fifty isn't really that important. At fifty Col Sanders had not opened a single restaurant and Grandma Moses had not yet picked up a paintbrush. On the other hand, Mozart, well… he had been dead for 15 years. Fifty is really not significant. The other reason is that every party that I've been to celebrate one of these 'big' birthdays has degraded into a series of jokes about older guys 'plumbing problems'. As when I turned forty (which must be what, twelve or thirteen years ago now), I can live without going through that.
So you all have a good week. We'll be here not shovelling snow or scraping windows. It's even supposed to be sunny for a bit today.
Pix:
Neck Point Park
A Pileated Woodpecker was making a goodly racket in one of the trees.
The rising sun silhouetted the trees.
The point at Neck Point Park and three closeups
Closeup A
Closeup B
Closeup C
Looking north up the island