Real World Event Discussions

In the garden, and RAIN!!!!

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
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Saturday, June 20, 2020 2:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:
Okay, where you would plug in an internet cable is covered over and I said that there is a hole in it where an "internet or video card" should be.



Well... I'll be damned. It does sound like somebody removed that card. I just can't figure out why. They're not worth anything. Motherboards have had them on the board for two decades now. Most motherboards in the last 5 to 10 years even had wireless internet capabilities built in. I can't even remember how long ago I had to purchase an internet card.

Did you, personally, ever get online with this thing? How long ago was that?

I know that you use your laptop to get on the internet, but I thought you also used this thing for internet too. Now I'm thinking that was a miscommunication on my part and you never did.

Quote:

He was using a modem with this thing but I doubt he ever used and it does have USB ports on the back of it. He had another large external drive that he used for his work files.


Well... if we're going to make this thing work at all for you, we're going to have to make the best possible use of those USB ports. That means that we cannot use those USB ports for your mouse and keyboard.

If we can't find you a keyboard/mouse with the pink/green PS2 connectors at the end, they do make these...

https://www.amazon.com/Oxsubor-PS2-USB-Female-Converter/dp/B01N5MYE72/
ref=pd_lpo_147_t_2/138-7030405-2277526?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N5MYE72&pd_rd_r=d8baafb1-747b-411a-9244-b90033a6174d&pd_rd_w=pO8hL&pd_rd_wg=t68J6&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=AJFGM840RM28CHPNCE8R&psc=1&refRID=AJFGM840RM28CHPNCE8R


I'm not sure where you'd get them if not online, and I think they'll cost quite a bit more than $6 for the set of them though, I'm afraid.


I think we're going to want to use one USB for a wireless internet stick and one for your regular USB storage thumb drive. But since we're talking about a PC this old, chances are it uses a very, very old version of Windows that wouldn't have the drivers for them and we'd have to make sure they even worked with the PC.



Honestly, I'm hoping that your keyboard and mouse do work now, because I think your best bet is just to get this thing up and running so you can get your information off of it before you buy a new desktop PC where you won't have any of these issues. A new one will have wireless internet built in and have more USB ports than you'd know what to do with.




I hope you feel better. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere.

Do Right, Be Right. :)



As I said my IT friend did the work and then forgot to replace the card. He wanted to redo it then but I said no. Looking back that was a mistake but that place I was living in was crap and I was on my landlady's wifi. So I told him not to bother and I would get him to do it when I moved to a better place. 3 years later and I am in a better place but no one could really forsee the shite show that came down the end of last year into this. Guess I should have gotten the work done after I moved.

The keyboard and mouse have their own separate holes that they plug into. The USB drives are free.

I think I am stuck until my IT guy can help me because I think when this thing dies I will be buying another ^&%^&%^&& laptop which is what I don't want.

So hard to get help.

I'm feeling a little better today.

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 3:30 AM

Well the problem is that if you need to buy a new keyboard and/or mouse, you might not be able to get ones that use the old PS2 ports... or at least not easily. It's old tech. Even the ones I find at Goodwill haven't had the pink/green connections years.

So if you have to buy new ones, they're eating up your only 2 USB ports, leaving you with nowhere to plug in the other two important bits.

And the ports from 1994 are super low powered and you're not just going to be able to plug in a hub to split them because then you're splitting that power output too.



And without the internet, it might be next to impossible to find a correct internet card for your computer at this point, so the only hope of getting that thing on the internet is crossing your fingers and hoping that a USB wireless stick will work on whatever old version of Windows you have installed and that the drivers work.




Like I said before, I think your best best is powering that thing up long enough to pull all of your work off of it and just throwing it in the trash and getting a new desktop. Hopefully you don't have to replace the keyboard in that case since you're probably just going to get another mouse and keyboard when you buy a new desktop and have an extra one lying around.



Glad you're feeling better.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 4:16 AM

Hi Brenda!

I'm glad to see you're out and about!

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 9:24 AM

Sweet...

The A/C is going to be MUCH cheaper to run than I thought it would.

I just verified a few facts here.

Not including today, I had the A/C running roughly 45 hours since I got it.

Last June was 3 degrees cooler on average. I spent 10% more on Electric this June than I did last June.


But...

I spent the exact same per-day amount this month that I did last billing cycle before the A/C was installed.

Not only does that mean that I used around 45 hours of A/C and broke even from last month, but that also includes having two florescent fixtures in my garage as well as a 300 watt bulb lighting it up in there quite frequently for a few weeks while I was working on the car and cleaning out the garage before that.


The only habit's that have changed from last month otherwise to break even that I can think of? Well... not using the box fan since I don't need it now.

Other than that, it's got to be energy savings from fixing the water heater and turning it down to non-scalding levels. I literally never notice that thing going off anymore when it used to go off all the time.





I also took a look at my history from last summer. I installed that blower fan in the middle of July, shortly around when my August bill would have begun. My August and September statements show an increase of 25 to 30% in electrical usage for those two billing cycles from last June. And as nice as it was to have, it wasn't nearly as hot last summer as it will be this summer, the blower did nothing to remove any of the humidity, and since I was still never able to even get close to equilibrium with the outside temp at night it made things more "comfortable" but nothing like the lower temps and less humid air in here now with the A/C.




This is thrilling news.

I was thinking about turning the A/C off now even though it was a scorcher and I wouldn't mind having it on longer. But now that I see the bill I think I'm going to leave it on a few more hours since the sun is down and it won't get cool enough tonight to justify opening the windows.

It's pretty much that way for the next 4 or 5 weeks at least in the forecast. I think I'll figure out how to program it to go on about 20 minutes every hour and just forget about it. That would probably do a better job maintaining a good level of humidity throughout the house than keeping it on 8 straight hours everyday.



I was fully expecting my bill to be at least $30 more than what it was.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 9:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Well the problem is that if you need to buy a new keyboard and/or mouse, you might not be able to get ones that use the old PS2 ports... or at least not easily. It's old tech. Even the ones I find at Goodwill haven't had the pink/green connections years.

So if you have to buy new ones, they're eating up your only 2 USB ports, leaving you with nowhere to plug in the other two important bits.

And the ports from 1994 are super low powered and you're not just going to be able to plug in a hub to split them because then you're splitting that power output too.



And without the internet, it might be next to impossible to find a correct internet card for your computer at this point, so the only hope of getting that thing on the internet is crossing your fingers and hoping that a USB wireless stick will work on whatever old version of Windows you have installed and that the drivers work.




Like I said before, I think your best best is powering that thing up long enough to pull all of your work off of it and just throwing it in the trash and getting a new desktop. Hopefully you don't have to replace the keyboard in that case since you're probably just going to get another mouse and keyboard when you buy a new desktop and have an extra one lying around.



Glad you're feeling better.

Do Right, Be Right. :)



Thanks for the info Jack.

Yeah, I am. Still some pain but nothing as compared to yesterday night. Least I'm not cussing tonight.

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 9:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Hi Brenda!

I'm glad to see you're out and about!



Hi Kiki.

Yeah, I was. Didn't really need to do anything but I thought the exercise would help my hip and I think it did. Least I haven't been cussing tonight like I was last night.

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 9:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brenda:

Thanks for the info Jack.

Yeah, I am. Still some pain but nothing as compared to yesterday night. Least I'm not cussing tonight.





No worries.

I'm glad you're feeling better.




It occurred to me that it might not be the worst thing in the world if you have to buy a new keyboard and mouse for the old computer, even if it's just to temporarily get the data off of it.

Even if we have to eat up both USB ports with them, I could still walk you through the process of swapping the keyboard with the USB thumb drive and using the mouse to copy the data over.


Then, after you buy a new Desktop that comes with its own keyboard and mouse, you will have an extra set that you can plug into your laptop so you don't have to use that track pad anymore and if you bought a nice ergonomic keyboard that is comfortable to you, you can do more typing without your hands cramping to the tight fit and awkward angle of the laptop keyboard.

Just a thought.




And definitely look for keyboards at the local Goodwill or thrift store when you're there. I have bought 2 or 3 of them over the last 5 years for a few bucks that would have cost me over $50 or $60 new and they work flawlessly. I'd probably skip looking for a mouse at the thrift shop though unless you're willing to gamble a few bucks. They are much more likely to be broken when you get them home.


Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 11:37 PM

Off to do my laundry. At least I will be out of the rain which we got here today.

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Saturday, June 20, 2020 11:38 PM

Quebec now has a major forest fire in its Lac Saint Jean region which is a big tourist area of the province.

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Sunday, June 21, 2020 12:16 AM

Sigh.

I suppose it's true that there's rarely good news in 'the news', but I'm always unhappy to find out about forest fires.

Anyways - yes! you get to stay dry while doing your laundry.

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