hello, it

so, i took my mad computer skills one step further this weekend. i not only hooked up the new computer, but i successfully hooked up a gnarly switcher thingy, so we can still (at our leisure), get info/access the old one. i went to circuit city and found everything except a usb hub which i found at staples. so, this is how it all unfolded:

mommy and i got a new pc last weekend, and i finally got around to setting it up this saturday, early pm. the trouble started when i took the cpu out of the box, and realized with horror that i had only usbs. so, not a panic. [earlier i told sister that she could take the new keyboard to use with her laptop, so i had too take it back and give her the one from the old pc. problem: sister's laptop doesn't have ps2 either.] but that's okay i realize as she's already upstairs getting me the new keyboard. i can get an adapter. i've already moved on to the next problems. the good old lj iiip that is still alive and kicking, after i don't know, 15 years? is a serial. no can do. okay i shout, i need the computer store!!!

so sister hauled me into the super it suv, and we go to circuit city. i'm a bit skeptical about the array of products they will still have, but as always, she knows the right thing to do and i was able to find everything i needed except a usb hub (no big deal, staples was just at the other side of the shopping center).

so, checklist: ps2-usb adapter, monitor switch, serial-usb adapter (and actually found a serial-usb cable, easy!), usb hub, patch cable, extra surge protector (which i had to get at staples too), extra power cord (just in case), and some AAA batteries (also on the quest was a new phone for the kitchen. we had a busy day!) so, i happily skipped home with my bags of goodies and headed right up to finish this magic act.

i got a belkin flip to plug in the montior, keyboard, mouse, and speakers into. it has a cool remote, and the switch has a green side and yellow side, so the 'green' set of cables goes to one pc and the 'yellow' to the other. the remote is not only a lot of fun to use, but the light coordinates with the machine...when you're using the green machine, the light is green, and when using the yellow machine, the light turns yellow! genius! colorufl! so fun! so the new pc has some bamboo background, cause you guessed it, that's the green machine, and the old one has a yellow flower on the background cause it's the yellow machine.

so, that was fun and easy until i remembered that we might still need to print from the old pc sometimes so at first i was bummed, because i'm sure they make a switch that you can hook up a printer too, or at least some kind of docking station. and i was like, i can't go back out there, not when i'm so close to perfection! but then i remembered that they all have usb cables, so i just took my shiny new usb hub and just hooked the three printers and the scanner into it. (backtrack - i also had to get a serial-usb cable so i could hook up the lj iiip that is still kicking!) so, now i can just plug the usb hub into whichever computer i need to use the printers for. finally, i got an extra patch cable so when i want internet on the old machine, i just plug in it's patch cable, and likewise for the new one.

whilst installing drivers and running updates, i also managed to read this great book called 'let the northern lights erase your name' by Vendela Vida. it was the first book in awhile that i basically read in one day. it wasn't very long, but it was amazing.

so by the time i was done, i was sweating (it was also really hot in the room anyway), exhausted, facing a mound of discarded and ripped open plastic cable and hub boxes, and busy putting back all of the driver cds and utility sw back in the cabinet. but, i also had that special feeling that happens, that it high. when you've just accomplished an amazing feat of technical genius and creativity. when the customer (okay my mom) comes up the stairs, and i can't help but grin as i know she is going to be amazed by what i've done. and she totally was.

then we went to dinner for gma's birthday celebration.

so yay! oh, and i totally forgot the best part. at circuit city, i got an awesome usb drive. it is awesome, because it is in the shape of dale jrs car!!! like i needed another usb, but i had to get it! now i can't wait to fill it up with SF2009 stuff!