What is in your cup?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Billi

Looking at the pictures they show us here from the U.K. it was a wise decision to stay home (even if it wasn't intended).

First they said trains would be running from 9am. Then 10am. Then noon. I don't know when the first trains started running, as I relaised there was no point long before we got to there.

It should all be OK tomorrow though.

Nothing in my cup!

[CRussel]

Agreed. This wan't one to ignore.

Another gorgeous day here, though I doubt it will be quite as warm. Drinking my second mug of Peet's English Breakfast for now, may switch to a nice Keemun for this afternoon.

[pdurrant]

Coke Zero in my cup this evening.

[cromag]

Not a bad day here, while I have my third tea.

[Stitchawl]

Sun's up, uuh huh, looks okay
the world survives into another day
and i'm thinking about eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.
I had another dream about lions at the door
they weren't half as frightening as they were before
but i'm thinking about eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.
Walls windows trees, waves coming through
you be in me and i'll be in you
together in eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
or down in the valley where the river used to be
i got my mind on eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
and i'm wondering where the lions are...
i'm wondering where the lions are...

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY__agG_eXc )

Good morning, everyone! I'm glad to see that our European members have fared well in the winds. Then news we get here looks pretty grim. Living in Asia has given me respect for the 'Dai-phoon.' Foggy, foggy dew outside right now... second day in a row but I can see the sun up there above the clouds. That bodes well. I've been able to put away my little laptop thanks to my new supercomputer, so typing isn't such a challenge. And with our regular Tuesday night jam session scheduled for this evening, and a mug of unbranded Keemun tea beside me, I think everything's right in my world.


Stitchawl

[Stitchawl]

Tough start of the day... failed 3-T hard drive. Gonna fix it myself... Hmmmmm....
Step 1. Fill mug with East India Company's "Royal Breakfast" tea.
Step 2. Visit YouTube to learn how to fix hard drives. No problem.
Step 3. Back-up plan: Visit E-Bay to check costs of new 3T hard drives....


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

Buy off eBay. Fix isn't really an option.

Anniversary Breakfast Blend.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Buy off eBay. Fix isn't really an option.

It's my brand of Optimism....Until I attempt something and don't succeed, I am a firm believer in that if someone can do something (as in this case, fix a hard drive,) there is absolutely no reason in the world for me to think that I can't do it too! I do, however, leave organ transplants to the professionals. It's amazing all the things I've learned while doing things that people told me I could not do.

As the platters are spinning freely, with no wobble or noise from the read/write arm binding, then shutting itself off, I make the assumption that it 'might' just be the circuit board heating up, which is just 5 torx screws and a plug to attach. 60 seconds to swap a bad one for a good one. Cost is about $45 compared with spending close to $1,500 for data recovery... or even $200 for a new 3T drive. And I might learn something new! At the very worst, the most I lose is $45, and when it works, I save $1500! (Note that I said 'when,' not 'if'...)

I really do believe that yesterday can get better.

Time for some Afternoon Assam tea!


Stitchawl

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

And all this to celebrate my 10,000th post in MobileRead!

Congratulations! And done without the help of the "last to post here" thread, as well .

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Strong winds have prevented me getting into work today. A Coke Zero while I do some work-related research from home.

Originally Posted by Billi

Looking at the pictures they show us here from the U.K. it was a wise decision to stay home (even if it wasn't intended).

The bad weather completely passed us by in the Midlands. Light rain and a bit blowy was the worst it got.

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

At the very worst, the most I lose is $45, and when it works, I save $1500! (Note that I said 'when,' not 'if'...)

Any luck fixing it yet? Sounds like a challenge too far to me. I tried to fix the hard drive on my daughter's iPod Classic a few days ago and just ended up with a shattered disk and a badly cut finger...

Black coffee in my cup. What else?

[CRussel]

Peet's English Breakfast Tea, and a large glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

Any luck fixing it yet? Sounds like a challenge too far to me. I tried to fix the hard drive on my daughter's iPod Classic a few days ago and just ended up with a shattered disk and a badly cut finger...

I took the first step today, which was purchasing a hard drive docking station. It's a USB3 device which allows me to plug in 4 hard drives the same way we used to slide in 8-track cassettes. Then I removed the external case from the dead drive, and found a usual Seagate Barracuda 3T drive inside. Pluging that into the dock, I learned that the wiring of the external case was not the problem. The drive still lit up, disks spun quietly for 20 seconds, then just died... Next step will be to order a new circuit board, and install that. That will take about two weeks between sending my old board and receiving the new one. Fortunately, there is no rush about this, or any real anxiety as there is nothing important on the drive that I don't have back-ups for. But there are 3-4 folders of 'odd stuff' that I never bothered to back up, things like some music videos from Youtube collected over the past few years, some instructional videos for PhotoShop, for guitar playing, various crafts, etc.... little bits of things that are nice to have, but no major loss if I can't. And as I said before, even if I can't get it to work, at least I've learned something about hard drives, and then I'll gut the sumbitch and remove the two outrageously powerful magnets that are inside. I've plenty of uses for them! I've never seen magnets quite as powerful as these things! Then I'll turn the platters into lovely Mobiles to reflect the afternoon sunlight, and order a new drive!

Time for a glass of Bombay Sapphire and some more computer installs!


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

Good luck with getting the new board to work. The chances are actually good, assuming the disks and drive mechanism are both intact.

On my third mug of tea so far this morning. This one is Murchie's Prince Charles blend. Not bad - a good general purpose blend.

[Stitchawl]

I was working in the lab late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

He did the mash
He did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
He did the mash
It caught on in a flash
He did the mash
He did the monster mash

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOFCQ2bfmHw )

It's almost time to go a'haunting.....

Good morning, everyone! Tis All Hallow's Eve, and I've got my costume all picked out and shopping bags and shot glass ready! My costume this year will be "Retired Old Man."

When I was a kid I lived in an area of apartment houses. In three hours of trick or treating, we could each fill 4-5 of those large heavy paper shopping bags full of goodies, of which our mothers would throw away 50% of because they were either home-made or unwrapped. That still left plenty of candy for us! And we all carried donation boxes for UNICEF too, collecting money to bring to the UNICEF table at school the next day. There were dozens of us in the neighborhood, out between 7-11 ..... Then the crazies got control. Needles inside apples. Rat poison inside chocolate.... These days you hardly see anyone other than pre-schoolers, only out around dinner time with their parents. It's probably different in small towns, but for big city kids, Halloween just isn't the same...

Time for a mug of my new English Breakfast tea, then downstairs to visit the food lady. I've a hankerin' for some Chiang Mai sausage!

Originally Posted by CRussel

Good luck with getting the new board to work. The chances are actually good, assuming the disks and drive mechanism are both intact.

Step by step I'll eliminate what isn't broken. I've been thinking about how to make a mini-clean room in case I need to open the box and swap the platters into a new case. THAT will be an interesting task! I've disassembled many hard drives to harvest magnets, so that part is easy. It's the re-assembly that will be the tricky part.


Stitchawl

[pholy]

I've disassembled many hard drives to harvest magnets, so that part is easy. It's the re-assembly that will be the tricky part.

Reminds me of taking apart wind-up clocks when I was kid... It's really hard to get _all_ those little gear shafts lined up all at once.

Good luck...

[CRussel]

Step by step I'll eliminate what isn't broken. I've been thinking about how to make a mini-clean room in case I need to open the box and swap the platters into a new case. THAT will be an interesting task! I've disassembled many hard drives to harvest magnets, so that part is easy. It's the re-assembly that will be the tricky part.

Yes, the clean room requirement is very real, and the hard part.

A really nice Okayti Estate First Flush Darjeeling this afternoon. I know several of you are not big fans of Darjeelings, but really, you should be giving these a try. Not big dark "red" teas like China Blacks, or the even darker "Darjeeling" one finds in bad tea bags, but a light, almost Oolong character, with a pale yellow liquor, an almost floral nose, and very distinct and different flavours depending on which estate the tea comes from. My favourite is the Puttabong Estate, but the Okayti is also very nice. And there are 4 or 5 others of note to try.