October 05, 2003

Faster than a speeding bullet...

My computer is singing now. I had a memory chip for months and finally decided to put it in tonight. Amazing what another 256 ram can do. I also added a 40GB hard drive for additional storage. I was quite pleased with myself. I did have one small problem. You know those ribbon things that connect the drives? Well, I have a zip drive that was in the intermediate plug between the original hard drive and the board. I couldn't find any other place to plug it, so I just unplugged the zip. I'll have to run to Best Buy tomorrow. I'm sure there must be one of those things with two intermediate pins, but what do I ask for without sounding inordinately stupid?

Speeding up my computer is not the only thing I did today, no siree! I washed a wonderful Romney/Jacob cross. I've already spun a little sample and it's really nice. It looks like it would be scratchy, got a bit of a halo, but it's quite soft. I got all five pounds washed, but I had to bring the rack into the basement for the last batch.

Then I dyed some of the fleece I brought home from Marie's in August. I used Cushing's Perfection this time, no mix, no mess. This pot is Nugget Gold and this one is Silver Gray Green. I didn't get started on that until later in the afternoon, and it was already getting cool. I had to take one of the pots off the auxiliary burner of the Coleman stove and use the hot plate. I think the Coleman is only going to be good for steaming, as it doesn't really keep the water at a simmer when it's cold outside. It took so long that I had to leave them to cool down over night.

Oh, and along with all of this, I tried to clean the kitchen. All I seemed to get done there was make a bigger mess. Well, I did get the cabinets and appliances clean and shiny. Good thing I have the day off tomorrow. It'll take me all day to finish what I started today.

Posted by Charleen at October 5, 2003 11:16 PM
Comments

Is it easy to put in RAM chips?? Both my and Stig's computers are DESPERATE for more RAM, but we are pretty hardware-ignorant when it comes to the puters.

Love those colors! Do you have plans for that mountain of gray/brown fleece?

Posted by: claudia at October 6, 2003 09:15 AM

It is extremely easy to put in RAM. Go to crucial.com and put in your computer and they'll tell you what type and how much you can use. I had two slots, with a 126 chip in one slot. I just snapped in a 256 chip and I'm in business. Don't worry when it chugs a little when you start up, the computer is just recognizing the new hardware you put in.

Posted by: Charleen at October 6, 2003 09:36 AM

I just checked and the chip I bought in the spring (and only just put in) is now $15 cheaper. I could replace my 128 with a 256. Hmmmm.

Posted by: Charleen at October 6, 2003 09:40 AM

It's an IDE (or ATA) hard drive ribbon cable. Tell them you want one with connectors for 2 hard drives. Shouldn't cost a lot.

Are you sure there wasn't a second connector about 1/2 way along the cable? Most of them come that way... Check before you buy...

email me if you need help.

Posted by: Jarrett at October 6, 2003 12:03 PM

There was, but it was being used for the zip drive. I didn't see any additional connectors open. I have a CD, CDRW, zip, floppy, and then I just put in an additional hard drive. So what I need is one with two connectors between the end ones. It's an ATA 80 pin.

Posted by: Charleen at October 6, 2003 12:43 PM