duff stuff

I posted the other week about some things that seemed to have all broken at the same time.

When I started the post I was sure there was a big long list of stuff, but then the actual list wasn't that massive.  I later remembered some of the stuff that has also broken that I forgot to mention.

Although first, I should say that my suspicion over what was causing my computer to go funny proved accurate - the wire that provides power to the CPU cooler was trapping the fan, causing it to make the funny noise and, presumably, do the whole restart thing.  I'm not quite sure I follow how it was causing the issues, but I adjusted it so it's nowhere near and the noise and unreliability stopped.

Anyway - the other broken stuff does actually mostly relate to my computer.

First off the speakers - the right speaker has stopped working.  The left speaker and the bass module are still functional, but the right doesn't seem to want to play ball.  To be honest, the speakers are old and knackered anyway and had started to make odd feedback noises if the cables were in particular positions.

Then there's my printer.  This appears to have gotten to the stage of printing some stuff in particular colours okay, but other colours or big things with lots of colours are coming out funny.  I've tried cleaning the heads and using all the deep cleaning (which costs a fortune in ink) and it doesn't make any difference, so I'm guessing something is rather more permanently clogged.

There's a stage with printers were the need to clean them (and thereby waste ink) makes them uneconomical.  I read somewhere that printer ink is one of the most expensive fluids in the world, ranking up there with semen from famous horses.

The next thing that's been on the fritz was my mouse.  I've had it a very long time so my suspicion was that it was getting gunked up.  It's an optical mouse, so there's not the rollerball gunk issue, but I've always produced a lot of greasy (and acidic) sweat that tends to foul even optical mice up.

However, with the mouse I was fairly determined to see if I could fix it, where the other stuff I will have to replace.  I therefore set about it with a screwdriver (it had a surprising number of screws in it) and some tissues to wipe off any gunk.

I have to confess it didn't seem as bad as I'd thought it might be, so it may just be knackered, though it seems to be performing better now.  Well, it is once I'd corrected my classic mistake.

Having put the thing back together, I naturally found a spare spring (there's always a spring or a screw left over!).  I couldn't for the life of me work out where it had come from, but then eventually worked out it was the spring that you push against when depressing the centre mouse wheel.  It took me ages to work out how it must go in order to achieve the tension, but it's all back together now.

And now for the biggie!

This actually happened just last week, but my exhaust fell off my car!

I was driving back home along the A31 when suddenly the car started making a very deep noise like those idiots who have the "loud" exhausts on.  There was also a noticeable drop in power and a kind of scraping noise, leading me to think my exhaust may be damaged.

Even a cursory glance when I got back confirmed this and a more thorough examination showed that at the least back end of the exhaust (where the silencer is) was very loose, if not detached from the rest of the exhaust.

I therefore had to take it to the garage, having attached some string to hopefully keep it from dropping off.

A new exhaust + fitting cost me £145!  But then also this was mid-week so I had to still go to work, which meant the train for several days, which added another £20.  I have no idea how train fares work - they certainly don't seem to bare any resemblance to common sense.  How it costs as much as they charged me I've no idea - how can two singles, one at off-peak and the peak one being only 2 stops cost half as much again as a 3-stop return bought during peak?

Oh, the joys of privatisation.  Fuck you Maggie.