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07/03/2006

I've gone geek!

If you've noticed the tape on my glasses lately, don't be alarmed. I've gone over to the geek side, but it's not contagious.

It all started back in April when we got our new laptop (a Dell E1505). Having a laptop without a wireless network seemed almost pointless in this day and age, so we decided to go ahead and get DSL. To make the DSL work, I needed a NIC (Network Interface Card, or Ethernet Card) for the desktop. While I was picking up the NIC, I decided to spring for some extra RAM, since we've been running an anemic 96MB for 7 years. You know how they tell you that more RAM is better? They were right!

So I installed the NIC and the RAM - and it worked! I was so proud of myself. Then I hooked up the new AT&T/Yahoo DSL Gateway. I walked through all the steps of setting up a wireless network and voila! We're surfing the web on the sofa! Too cool.

Ah, but a true geek can't stop there. Inherent in the geek gene is a sixth sense that says "But it can do more." So I needed to set up file and print sharing (much harder than the internet connection). After playing with this for a week, I went ahead and bought a Windows XP SP2 upgrade for the desktop (it helped that I read that Win98 would not be supported beyond July 11, and that it was on sale for about 2/3 off) and installed that Saturday night.

So now I've got two machines, both with WinXP SP2. But I can't connect to the internet on the desktop. After an hour or so of troubleshooting, I called AT&T support. Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! Let it be declared and proclaimed that AT&T has worthwhile technical support. At 9:00 on a Sunday night, I got a message that I should try turning off the router and the computer and turning them back on. That didn't help, but I called again and talked to Dave. He walked me through some of the steps I've already tried, and finally, we ended up staring rather disgustedly at a corrupt network stack. Fortunately, the problem was as simple as uninstalling the NIC driver and re-booting the computer. XP found and ran the correct driver on startup.

Up-Armored Vue
Eldest brought her best friend home from church last night. They had a great time, and were well-behaved to boot. In a morning of guilty pleasure, I took Eldest, her guest, and Youngest to the park (What's that you say? Why wasn't I at work on a Monday? BONUS HOLIDAY!) The girls played while I read and enjoyed the sunshine.

Finally, it was time to take our guest home at about 3:00 this afternoon. In our neck of the woods, we just about need body armor to go outside around July 4th, for fear that a stray bottle rocket might impact our vital parts. As I backed out of the garage, I wished I had up-armored the SUV.

My Walter-Mitty daydreams aside, the trip was pretty uneventful. In a senior moment, I missed the exit off the freeway, which meant I took the kids to that town with a strange name. Which worked out, actually, since Youngest had just fallen asleep and she got a bonus 15 minutes to nap.

And you can't beat that, can you?

22:00 Posted in About Life | Permalink | Email this