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Dec. 30th, 2019 02:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsyNothing like surprise emergency brake work on Ai right after Christmas! Both of the front calipers were leaking fluid, which got to the pads, so those needed replaced too. While it's not impossible to find a place to do such work on the day after Christmas, it's also a headache nobody needs or wants. But, I had this under control. She was already up on the lift for an unrelated task, so from there it was a matter of taking the wheels off and start wrenching. I only had to venture out to get the replacement parts, which were in stock somewhat nearby. The ones I pulled off only lasted 18 months. Cheap is as cheap does, I guess.
I need to get some VCI (volatile corrosion inhibitor) paper for storing metal parts and tools. In terms of price per square foot, it's cheap enough but it's usually only sold in stupidly large amounts that are way more than what I'd ever need (200 yard rolls). If someone sold it in sections of about 10 square feet, that would be great for me, I'd only need one. Maybe two.
The Christmas/New Years break usually sees me doing some kind of major cleanup. I mean, I've made enough of a mess to need to do that again, but I'm just not feeling up to it this time. Having the extra space reduces the sense of urgency. In the past, I've used a few different things to spark the process, using things like playing music and a shot or two of whiskey. Paradoxically, something that might be hampering it this time around is taking off extra time before Christmas. Those days often end up being used for Christmas shopping or toodling around to places that I normally wouldn't be able to get to without extended holiday hours, and then the steam never gets the chance to build up. At the same time, if I start my break only a couple days before Christmas and then roll almost a week into the new year, I tend to make more progress.
Gonna do another computer build, using parts I found at the current incarnation of what used to be the traveling computer show from years ago. The website is still up and gives directions to an actual store, which has a lot of older stuff. I didn't pay much for the mobo/CPU/RAM combo, so if it doesn't work, I'm not going to be mad. Some of the newer parts I had to get (case, power supply, hard drive) can be used in another system if this project falls flat.
But I don't know what I'd use that computer for. I already have a laptop for general purpose stuff, a desktop for the music library, another desktop for heavier processor loads, one to work as a server, and an assortment of other desktops for experiments and legacy applications. The practical need to build another computer can no longer keep up with the desire to build one.
I feel a burst of nostalgia, for the days when I would go to way more conventions than I do now. No, it's the camaraderie that I miss. I've noticed most of the conventions I used to attend that are still around have erupted in attendance, which means they'll take much more effort to get into than what I remember. It's also that high level of effort that chased off most of my con-going friends. That's one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest, why I dropped many of these events. So maybe I'll go anyway, if only for a sense of closure, a quiet goodbye to a past that will never come back. Yeah, I know I'm not going to find anything, but maybe it's something I need to see with my own eyes and directly experience to be satisfied.
I need to get some VCI (volatile corrosion inhibitor) paper for storing metal parts and tools. In terms of price per square foot, it's cheap enough but it's usually only sold in stupidly large amounts that are way more than what I'd ever need (200 yard rolls). If someone sold it in sections of about 10 square feet, that would be great for me, I'd only need one. Maybe two.
The Christmas/New Years break usually sees me doing some kind of major cleanup. I mean, I've made enough of a mess to need to do that again, but I'm just not feeling up to it this time. Having the extra space reduces the sense of urgency. In the past, I've used a few different things to spark the process, using things like playing music and a shot or two of whiskey. Paradoxically, something that might be hampering it this time around is taking off extra time before Christmas. Those days often end up being used for Christmas shopping or toodling around to places that I normally wouldn't be able to get to without extended holiday hours, and then the steam never gets the chance to build up. At the same time, if I start my break only a couple days before Christmas and then roll almost a week into the new year, I tend to make more progress.
Gonna do another computer build, using parts I found at the current incarnation of what used to be the traveling computer show from years ago. The website is still up and gives directions to an actual store, which has a lot of older stuff. I didn't pay much for the mobo/CPU/RAM combo, so if it doesn't work, I'm not going to be mad. Some of the newer parts I had to get (case, power supply, hard drive) can be used in another system if this project falls flat.
But I don't know what I'd use that computer for. I already have a laptop for general purpose stuff, a desktop for the music library, another desktop for heavier processor loads, one to work as a server, and an assortment of other desktops for experiments and legacy applications. The practical need to build another computer can no longer keep up with the desire to build one.
I feel a burst of nostalgia, for the days when I would go to way more conventions than I do now. No, it's the camaraderie that I miss. I've noticed most of the conventions I used to attend that are still around have erupted in attendance, which means they'll take much more effort to get into than what I remember. It's also that high level of effort that chased off most of my con-going friends. That's one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest, why I dropped many of these events. So maybe I'll go anyway, if only for a sense of closure, a quiet goodbye to a past that will never come back. Yeah, I know I'm not going to find anything, but maybe it's something I need to see with my own eyes and directly experience to be satisfied.
