Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 1999 > 27 September 1999 Edition

27 September 1999 Edition

This has been one busy month for me.

At home, just as I thought I got my computer fixed, it acts flaky again and again. And I received a flash of insight that makes me want to kick myself repeatedly.

My home box runs off an Intel Pentium which can access no more than 100MB or so of RAM. I have been trying to use 128MB. I should have known better: Months ago at work I tried to upgrade a Pentium-based Gateway PC to 128MB without success. I only got 96MB in that box, and that was not enough: The person who used that box is a true power user who runs more programs than the file server itself. In the end we replaced his PC with a Pentium-II Gateway.

As for my PC, it looks like I will have to buy a Celeron- or AMD-based motherboard next month.

At work, most of the people in my department have left for a variety of reasons, and I have become one half of what's left. It has not been has hectic as I thought it would be.

Before this I have handled questions mostly on hardware, Windows 9x, Office 97 (especially Word, which I have used for years), Novell client (log-in) programs and in-house software. On other stuff, I usually referred questions to my co-workers, who can answer them better. Now I must handle these, too, with what little knowledge I have. So far, though, I have done rather well.

Yet I will be glad when my department becomes fully staffed this coming October, because it will become really wacky. The wide-area network is to be completely rebuilt: One main office, twelve branches, and lots and lots of hubs and wiring.

Out in the big room, the goldenrods along the roads are a brilliant gold, as they do every early September. This normally is a prelude to the changing of the leaves that comes after the goldenrods fade. This year, however, the leaves are becoming yellow and red before the goldenrod flowers have a chance to die. On some trees the leaves simply drop while still green. Why? The late summer, although relatively cool, has also been rainless, and the resulting drought has been thrashing trees, lawns and crops alike.


Copyright © 2005 by Andy West. All rights reserved. Last updated 11 September 2005.