Today's Activity

If you are able, go do it. It doesn't take long, and it could really help out someone in need.

Whee!

You've read about my experience with getting a Belkin KVM switch. So, I did some research and decided that the right one for me was this little number, an IOGEAR model. Reviews were mixed, but most negative reviewes seemed to revolve around a lack of features that careful reading of the literature would have already uncovered (yes, I hear the pot talking to me, thankyouverymuch). It's USB, handles up to four computers at a time, claims to work with my toy, handles audio, and supposedly works with USB hubs, so I can actually connect more USB devices than just a keyboard and mouse.

I ordered it a week ago Friday, and it finally came today. Aside from a few glitches (my Linux box isn't completely happy, but since it's like 8 years old, I'm not overly surprised), it works pretty well. One of the cool features that I never knew I wanted but now I'm very glad I have is that I can switch everything except the audio. Right now, I have my iTunes running on my desktop while I'm typing this on my laptop, both of which are connected to the KVM. Pretty sweet!

Pictures

Got these pictures back from our friends, Piglet and Xabu, showing the extend of the damage to my car. I'll be honest, every time I look at the car now, I just giggle. It's kinda funny :)

Along the same lines, we got an estimate for the car yesterday. It wasn't nearly as hight as I'd expected, but the best thing is that I have a $0 deductible for accidents of this type! Woo-hoo! Of course, it'll probably bite me in the butt the next time I have to pay my premium...

Well Now, That Was Interesting...

Amelia and I were driving north to spend the night with her folks, and we had something happen to us that neither of us have ever had happen before.

I hit a deer.

Yes, with my car.

We were driving across US 30 coming through Wooster, and fortunately Amelia reminded me that I needed to slow down going through the city. I saw him as he darted across the road about 10 feet in front of the car. I hit the brakes pretty quickly, but I still clipped him. He got up and continued his sprint into the trees, so we're pretty sure he's OK. My car isn't badly damaged, but the hood is crumpled somewhat and the front right fender is broken (plastic, don'tcha know). But I didn't even lose a headlight, so it wasn't that bad. The impact wasn't enough to set off our air bags, and I don't even remember the seat belt grabbing. All in all, I think Bambi, Amelia and I got off pretty lucky...

Dammit...

Belkin sucks.

I've bought a ton of their stuff in the past and have usually been very happy, but tonight, I'm crossing them off my "vendors to do business with" list. What happened that's got my undies all knotted?

I tried to buy one of their products, and got screwed.

This product here is the one that has provoked my ire. For the non-technical in the audience, it allows several computers to all run from one keyboard, mouse and monitor. And since it's USB, I can share other things, too, like my printer and digicam. As I have four functioning computers in the house, three of which need external keyboards, mice and monitors, a USB KVM switch is a boon to me, as it means I can have a less cluttered desk. You try putting three 17-inch monitors, three keyboards, and three mice on one desk!

Anywho, back to the story. Tonight I was rearranging my office (with Amelia's help, God bless her) when I realized that my old KVM switch was dead. It was an older, 2 port model (meaning it could only handle 2 computers) that used PS2 connections rather than USB, and since one of my computers doesn't have PS2 connections, I thought I'd bite the bullet and buy a new 4 port switch with USB, plus a new USB keyboard (my mouse is already USB, I just have an adaptor that lets me plug it into a PS2 port). So, after dinner, Amelia and I went to MicroCenter to buy me a KVM switch and a keyboard.

Right when I walked in, I saw the KVM switches. There were several to choose from, but only the Belkin model allowed me to share my audio as well as everything else, so I picked one up and bought one. I looked around in vain for a keyboard (I'm picky about my keyboards), so we bought the KVM switch (plus a new DVI-VGA adaptor for my Mac mini, as my current one is on the fritz) and went to see if we could find a good keyboard somewhere else. On our drive, something finally occurred to me.

I had bought a Belkin KVM switch before. And I was initially very, very pissed off. You might rightly ask why I was so pissed off. Well, it's because the damned thing didn't come with the frickin' cables that make it useful!!! So, I had to go back out and plunk down extra money for the cables before I could use my purchase. And, as I found out tonight, they're still doing the same damned thing. We checked the box when we reached the next store, and it clearly stated that the cables were sold separately.

Since we were hitting other techish stores, I figured I'd be able to find some cables. In fact, at one of my stops, all I had seen in the KVM department on a previous visit was the KVM model I had just bought, plus cables for it. Of course, they didn't have any in stock tonight, and neither did any of the other stores, so it was back to MicroCenter.

Who also didn't have any cables.

I returned the damned thing, and I'm going to do what I should have in the first place: do my research and buy online. I can say in all honesty that I won't buy another Belkin KVM, I'm done being tricked by them. I'm tempted to completely write them off, but, as luck would have it, I finally found a keyboard which meets my exacting standards, and wouldn't you know who the manufacturer is...

Dammit...

Weekend update

Last weekend 8 women drove to the middle of nowhere Indiana to glue pictures onto paper create priceless family albums. Yep that’s right- Girls Weekend at the OldeGeneva Dairy Scrapbooking Retreat!

While some of us got 80+ pages completed some were more than happy to get 20. It wasn’t about the numbers.

That is unless you count the number of:

• stories told,
• games played,
• songs sung,
• glasses of wine drunk,
• fits of laughter echoing,
• calories from all the yummy food made by the proprietor
• the amount of left over Halloween candy eaten
• and the countless memories made.

Milestone

Woo Hoo! our 100th post!

Road Trip

Woo Hoo- Girl's weekend is finally here. I have been wait for this weekend since July! Tom is off to his own road trip this weekend to see his college roommate and old college friends.

Go Vote...

Yep that's right, tomorrow is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Please exercise your right to vote. Remember if you don't vote you have no right to complain about issues or elected officials. If you want my opinion on who to vote for let me know I am happy to give you my two cents or if you are looking for impartial information check out The League of Women Voters guide.

What?!

I was going through some of the hundreds and hundreds of pictures that Amelia and I have taken with our digicam, and I came across this particularly freakish one. Now, goofy pictures of me are nothing new, I take pride in making Amelia laugh with an odd mug shot or two most times that we empty the camera, but I didn't take this one! Amelia must have been taking a picture of me, and my freakish nature made it come out like so. It's fairly recent, too, as I only have one chin :P

Toasty Again!

Following up on yesterday's post, our furnace is again doing its job! Dennis from Total Comfort Heating & Cooling came by late this morning. Turns out that the problem was a sensor in the furnace was malfunctioning, something that could have been avoided if we'd have had regular maintenance done (oopsie). While he was in there, he performed some additional maintenance which we'd neglected, and gave us a little education along the way. If you're in the Columbus area and need to have your furnace/AC serviced, we'd whole-heartedly recommend Total Comfort Heating & Cooling.

On a somewhat related note, Amelia wants me to plug Angie's List. It's full of user feedback regarding all types of service companies. We've used Angie's List several times now for a variety of reasons, and have found the feedback posted to be very helpful in choosing who we do business with. In fact, it's how we found Total Comfort Heating & Cooling. If Angie's List operates in your area, we'd recommend you give them a try. For us, it's well worth the cost of the service when we need to know who to call to do a job for us.

And now, it's time to find the shorts, t-shirts and take off my boots and get comfy again :)

Brrrrrrr.....

We came home from my sister's this weekend to a cold house. From our limited knowledge, it looks like our furnace is on the fritz. The furnace kicks on, runs for 1-5 seconds, then goes off. We tried a diagnostic that we found somewhere on the internet to determine if it's the furnace or the thermostat (Amelia had the link, I don't), and it appears that the thermostat is OK. Amelia will try to get someone out to look at the furnace tomorrow. Keep yer fingers crossed...

Date Night

Amelia and I went out for our anniversary tonight. For dinner, we went to Mitchell's Fish Market (formerly the Columbus Fish Market), and afterward treated ourselves to The Colin and Brad Show, featuring Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of the American version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" What a riot! They did two-man versions of a lot of the "Whose Line..." sketches, most of which were absolutely hilarious. We haven't laughed so hard in a very long time :)

November 1, 2006

Three years and counting :)

Happy anniversary, Sweetie.