There.  Remove the curse.  Please.  Over the last two months here is what has happened… I’ve probably missed a couple…

microwave quit working – only worked on high.  Repair method – slapped it like we used to with TV’s and radios when they hummed or picture went goofy… sometimes the turntable rattles a bit now, but if you whack it again it stops.  Sometimes you just have to swear at it.

TV startup – apparently my Samsung  HiDef TV has faulty capacitors.  Repair method – replace capacitors (about 20 bucks) but try and find them – they are ordered, but I haven’t turned off the TV for a month, cause it probably won’t start again (additional electricity bill $????)

Toilet – don’t flush properly (if at all) Repair method – (none of which have worked) – plunger, sewer snake, remove and reinstall toilet, lots of swearing…

Truck oil leak – oil puddles under the truck .  Repair method – open hood and come to the obvious conclusion I have no idea where to even start looking.  Take to shop and pay the nice people $550.00 to replace a broken oil cooler pipe.

Dish Washer leak – it’s a portable, and eventually will be replaced by a built in, but in the meantime, I don’t want to do them by hand.  Anyway, it leaks where you hook it up to the faucet.  Repair method – it’s a simple washer that needs replacing.  They quit making the repair kits two years ago.  You have to buy the whole assembly for $85.00 now.  Still unresolved, but if I hook it up and unhook it about 20 times (and of course, accompanied by swearing) it will eventually stop leaking…

Computer mouse – it just started working if and when it wanted to.  I think the laser was burning out. Repair method – new mouse.  About 40 dollars ’cause I bought one with extra buttons that I have no idea do.  But it is ergonomically designed.

Computer sound card- been stupid for a long time, but I think it’s still associated with the curse somehow. It has always buzzed and had static, and was always turned almost off so I couldn’t hear the noise.  Repair method – new sound card (cheap one – $65.00) I also bought new cables for the second hard drive, because it would vanish every once in a while.  On the drive where I keep all of my music, so now that I have a sound card, I might as well have music working

Oh yeah, let me reiterate that I think my brother is a really great guy, and very wise, and really good looking (for someone his age… )

I suppose I’m tempting fate with that last little bit…

I’m not putting anyone down, but my first impression was “ooh wow – did you even know that little message was attached to your email?”  I’m guessing not, because most things nowadays just work out of the box.  There’s no need to do anything, which leads to my rambling for today.

First of all, I was amused by the word “device.”

When I think of device, it’s something that can be used for something and I really don’t know what it is but it should work here if I can find or make one.  For example, I could say, “I need some sort of a device to hang this rock from the ceiling.”

I got thinking about what a Blackberry is, and it’s really a portable computer and cell phone combined into one handy little go-with-you-everywhere convenience. That’s nothing new people.  I present to you, from way back in 1981, the world’s first portable computer.

It weighed over 10 kg (about 23 lbs) and came in a sturdy metal case.  Not the flimsy plastic used now.  It had 64 kb of memory, and two (count ‘em – two) floppy drives.  And a real keyboard.  Never mind that the picture I’ve posted here is about 40 kb, and would have used up all of the available memory. That is, if it actually had the capability to display something other than text, which it couldn’t.  But, my point is, the idea isn’t new. Portable computing has been around for a long time.

On to the cell phone part.

Mulder (from X Files) had one forever.  Before they were even invented.  I couldn’t find a picture of the suitcase one from the first seasons but here’s his second one.

That was way back in 1993.

Again my point is, the technology is not new.  Just smaller.

So, am I impressed you sent me an email from your Blackberry?  Maybe a little.  I guess it is cool you can do that.

On the other hand, I’m not bothered by email messages all day long.  I’ll get to them when I get to them.

Now, to truly have a wireless “device” I need to combine the two.  Only then will it actually be a true device in my mind.

I think I’ll build one in the basement this winter.