Sunday, February 24, 2013

Opera and Blogger

I just tried using the web browser, Opera, while posting to my blog. It didn't work. I had to go to Safari.  Other than that, I really like Opera. It acts very similar to Chrome or Firefox. I can't use either of those because they don't work on old Macintosh PPCs. I guess that I'm stuck with Safari for tonight.
Well, I started my new job. It's going pretty well, so far. I've been loading Linux on Windows and Macintosh machines. I'm having troubles getting the Mac to work with Linux. The old PPC machines aren't supported by anyone, very much. For being as old and unsupported as they are these old Ibook G4s sure work well. I'm pretty happy with them and I just bought another one for $27 on Ebay. The shipping was another $20 so it really cost me $47. I hope I can get it going well. It comes with software and an AC adapter as well.
I messed up the network last Friday. A guy named Ken came over from Radio Shack and straightened them out. He saved my day.
Ken said that he thought Google Chrome was safe. He didn't think there was much to be afraid of as far as spyware was concerned. I think I'll load Chrome on as many computers as I can tomorrow. I'll just use Ad Blocker, and hope for the best. As it implies, the plug-in Ad Blocker blocks commercial adds from your web browsers. I think its the best protection from spyware.
I made a lot of money, shoveling snow, last Friday. We had close to 6 inches fall, mostly in the morning. I had to juggle the snow shoveling with the IT job. It worked out. I was stiff, Saturday, from all the shoveling. I think that will be the last of the major snow storms. It seemed to be melting very fast Saturday and today.
I went to LaCrosse with Jim and Sherry, today. I hung out at Barnes and Noble while they went shopping. While I was there, I ordered a couple of books on Linux Mint and LibreOffice. We'll be using those at the Peace and Justice Center.
While at Barnes and Noble, I leafed through a book by Bart Ehrman and one by Elaine Pagels. Ehrman wrote a book about the Gnostic texts that didn't make it into the Bible. Pagels had a book about the book of Revelations. I've been reading a lot about religion lately. I've even been doing the daily Christian Science bible lessons.
I'm at a fast-food chain restaurant named Culver's. I finished off a banana split and read the Sunday newspaper. I'm just blogging and listening to Itune radio. I think I'll surf Yahoo, and AOL and go home. I'm a little tired from lack of sleep yesterday.
Well, Later.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

New Job

Next week, some time, I start my new job. I'll be an IT tech for the Peace and Justice Center in Decorah. I won't actually be an employee because I'm counted as being a participant in a program which gets a government grant. It's called Experience Works. I'll have to buy some books on networking. I hope that I'll be able to use Linux, since that is where my expertise is. I networked my home computers about 10 years ago so I'm not a complete newbie.
I picked up my etching that was framed today. I took it to Java Johns and swapped it for the etching of the wagon. I told Mary to lower the price of the etchings to $500. I spent about $187 for framing them alone. I'm still asking $1000 for the etching of the plane.
Tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Apparently it will snow all day. I'll be shoveling at Java Johns. For the next 2 or 3 weeks I might have to shovel before 10 and after 3 since I'll be working for 4 hrs. a day at the Peace and Justice Center.
I've got 3 laptops that are waiting for displays. I bought another one today. It is coming with an extra battery and an extra ac adapter. It also will have install disks for Macintosh software and an adapter for the monitor. I need all of those things so I spent $51 to get the package. I hope that the software is for OS 10.5.8 because that will stream video and audio with Flashplayer. If it's the right software I might be able to get the video to stream on all of my old Ibooks.
I need to make a list of things to buy when I have money. I need a nice pair of shoes, for instance. I won't be able to go to the food pantry at the church because I'll be working at the time that they are opened. I'll have to check on that because, if they are opened until 3:30, I ought to be able to get there in time.
The keyboard on this laptop has a problem with the K key. sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I can't afford to replace it. If I give the computer away whoever gets it will have to live with it or spend some money to replace it.
That's all for now. I might come back tomorrow while I'm waiting for more snow at Java Johns.
Later

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Rainy day at Java Johns

It's a rainy day in Decorah. I'm  at Java Johns with not much to do. It's Sunday and I've done my ice scraping. Marty's house had some deep ice. It melted from the snow and built up rather deeply. I needed to at least try to get rid of it before the people went to church. I put some salt on it early in the morning but apparently the Methodists start their services at 9:00 in the morning. I was a bit late for them.
The job is coming through. I have to sign some papers tomorrow, and then there is an interview on Wednesday. I'll be working at the Peace and Justice Center. Since it's a government grant I have to avoid politics and religion. I don't know how that will work out. I'm looking forward to having a little extra money.
I'm still buying old laptops. I'll have 3 Ibook g4s working by Wednesday. I'm waiting for the displays. One will be missing the cd player but the others will both be running Macintosh 10.5.8 for the operating system. I think I'll sell one to Mary for her sound system. I'm trying to get a bluetooth sound system going at Java Johns. I need to find speakers for it but I think one of my old laptops will do just fine for streaming audio from the internet.
Selling the etchings is slowing down. I wasn't able to sell the last two. One, I decided to keep and frame.   I am going to try to sell it at Java Johns. I've got 3 on display there, now. I'll swap one and hang one on my wall. While I'm at it I might as well lower my price. I've been asking $1000 for the expensive ones. I think I'll lower the prices to $500. It's a depression, after all. Anyway, I might as well post the one that I am getting framed.roadsongs.com. I couldn't get the image to upload so I linked to Malcolm's website. The etching I'm trying to sell now is 'Frenchy's Flathead Flyer" which is the first image in Malcolm's website. I've got 2 of these. One is framed and is on display at Java John's. The other is at home waiting to be sent out to a buyer. The other etching, which I'm having framed is "Back to Nature" I didn't get it sold. Well, that's all for now. I'm meeting Gary at the Co-op. Maybe I'll go to LaCrosse today.
Later.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Job possibility

I've been applying for a job thru something called "Experience Works". It's not really a job since I would be a "participant" in the program. Apparently they have a government grant that allows them to pay people to be prepared for employment. It would be 20 hrs. a week and I would get minimum wage.
It sounds great to me. I'll hear back from them by next week. It might last up to 4 years.
I've been selling more of my etchings on Ebay. I'm not getting as much as I would like because only one buyer actually bids on each of my etchings at a time. At least they are moving.
I find myself buying too many old laptops on Ebay. I need to stop bidding on the Ibooks. They are simply to old and slow. I need to use my limited resources to get the Macbook Pros working. I could sell them at a profit on Ebay.
The van still has a problem with the heater. I think its a stuck door inside the heater itself. I felt the hoses on the control unit under the hood. They were both warm so that is apparently working. I'm thinking about getting an electric heater that I could plug into the cigarette lighter. That would keep the window from fogging over, at least. I think I'll go to Wal-Mart and pick one up today. If I get a good price for my last etching I might be able to afford to have it repaired.
I was turned down for a loan that I would have used to pay off OneMain Financial. If I get the job, I'll apply again in a couple of months. It would reduce the interest that I'm paying from 23% to 13%. I would have to pay it quicker but it's worth it.
Not much is happening here.
Later
Craig

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

I'm back

I haven't posted for quite a while, so it's time to get back.
I sold a couple of my etchings. I'm getting $100 each for them. At least I'm making a profit. Today I shipped one to Virginia. The last one went to Spain. The advantage of selling on Ebay is that you can sell throughout the world. The disadvantage is that people can't see the real thing that you are selling.
The computers are a bust. The MacBook Pro's are too expensive to have repaired and the Ibooks are too incapable of doing streaming video to mess with. I give them to poor people through Community Action. I'm thinking of having classes for them at Java Johns so I can teach people things like downloading software for them. I'll have to talk with Joan about that. I've got 2 more that are ready to go. One is a Nobelis that I gave to Nick a long time ago. It's so old that Flashplayer doesn't support it.
I'm having trouble with this computer. It has shut down twice, now. I don't know what is going on. Alice said that her computer was doing that as well. I think it might be that I have the wrong memory chips in it. I'll have to buy some more on Ebay. 
I also have troubles with the car. It doesn't warm the cab at all I think the lever for the heater is stuck. Maybe the heater valve is stuck. I'll have to take it to Dan and see if he can work on it. At least I have a little money to pay him with.
later.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Improved Password Recovery

They've improved the password recovery on Blogger. All that I needed was my phone number and email account to get the password changed. I'll have to write down the new password so I don't forget it.
Not much is happening here. I'm still working on old laptops. I got one from E-bay the other day that was quite sick. It had a checker board display and wouldn't boot. I charged up the battery and changed the memory modules and it seems to be good except for a dead DVD player. I have to save up money to change that. When I get one I'll sell it on E-bay. I also decided to sell one of my etchings on E-bay. I'm tired of being broke all the time. If I can move the etchings I'll have plenty of money.
I messed up a couple of my laptops the other day. One of them had a problem that appeared to be with the power board. So I tried a power board out of the other laptop. It turned out that the boards weren't compatible. I ended up messing up the logic boards on both of them. It will cost hundreds of dollars to repair. I might just pull the good parts out and get other laptops to working. I'm giving up on Ibooks. I can't get streaming video to work with them. If they have Macintosh software on them they are fine. Linux doesn't support Flash on PPC computers. That's probably why they are so cheap.
I had a surprise bill from an old credit card the day before yesterday. I'm still paying for credit cards from 10 or 12 years ago. I was afraid that I would have to stop having coffee at Java John's to save up and pay for it. It turned out that I've already paid towards my account here. I'll just cut back to 1 cup a day and I should be fine. It would be nice to have a little leeway when it comes to money.
I've been reading a book by Wayne Dyer that states "There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem". I started reading it last September and it took me until now to finish it. It's mostly been sitting and waiting for me to get to it. It's a good book and it's really inspires me. Dyer sees everything as being energy. He feels that everything is simply frequency vibrations. A person who is at a higher frequency has good things coming his way. A lower frequency person attracts bad things. I obviously have been on a low frequency for the last few months. That's why I have shingles and poverty. I need to break out of that thinking. I've been doing the daily lession from the Christian Science Church. I also have taken up reading Dyer's book. I'll read it a second time. There is also a daily meditation on the Internet for Christian Scientists. I'll break this cycle.
That's all for now. I'll try to get back to leaving more blogs.
Later

Friday, November 16, 2012

Password Hell

I've just been in password hell. I forgot my password because I so rarely use it. Normally my computer remembers it. I usually  use a laptop when I'm posting a blog.
I gave away my old laptop so the new one didn't have the password. After about 10 or 15 attempts at passwords I admitted that I didn't remember it. It took a day to get back on. I'm a bit concerned because they asked for credit card info. I gave it to them but maybe it was a scam. I only have $20 in that account so if it is a scam I won't be out much.
Not much is happening here. I'm spending too much on old laptops. I got started with Mac laptops. I've got a Macbook Pro and a couple of old Ibooks. I'm happy with the Macbook, but I can't get the Ibooks to stream video. Nobody supports the old PPC standard anymore. That refers to the Motorola CPUs that Mac used to use. The Macbook uses an Intel CPU so it's no problem.
I've been overbidding on Ebay for parts for these old laptops. With my income, bidding at all is probably a mistake. I find myself using credit to buy a parts machine. Sometimes, I've been lucky and was able to get a good machine out of a bunch of parts but mostly I've ended up with a bunch of bad parts.
I should go back to begging for old laptops to give away after fixing them. That worked out pretty well the last time I did it.
I worked at the polls, last week. It was hard. My shingles came back and I had a head ache, and pains in my chest. I think the head ache might have been due to coffee withdrawals. It was a long day, 15 1/2 hours. I hope to get over $100 for the work. I'll use it towards parts for a 17 inch Macbook. I have everything but a battery and display for another one. They're too good to give away so I'll sell them on Ebay.
I'm still waiting to hear from the VA about driving the van. They asked me for copies of my driver's license and proof of insurance a couple of weeks ago, so they must know that I still exist. Driving once a week would be enough to get me through this period of poverty.
Pretty soon, it will be snowing and I hope to make a lot of money, shoveling snow. That'll get me through until Spring. Then I might have to see about working a Wal-Mart or Subway Sandwiches.
Later