arfink Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 So here we have my dad: Plus about 90lbs and a big old bald tonsure: The pink line is what my dad actually looks like: Of course, now we need a Dominican habit and some other stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Got new projects to work on, and old ones to work on. New work and old work. Funny how that goes. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 *Goshdarnabbit cussword cuss cuss it* I think I'm losing the laser's tube now. I can't seem to compensate for the power losses anymore. The mirrors are good, the lens is good, everything is set up right, and I have a brand new power supply. The laser works, but I'm seeming to have much less power for engraving than before. Cuts also seem OK, but engraving is too light. I have no idea what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Well, I dipped into my reserves and bought another tube. Every test I have run has come back to the conclusion that the tube is probably on its last legs. This is what they look like outside of the machine. The high cost of replacement is due to the complexity of the glasswork, and the fact that much of the assembly of the tubes has to be done by hand, including the very fiddly process of aligning them. Their mean time between failures is about 1000-2500 hours, which means that at 18 months of ownership, I am well past the average lifespan of the tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 :/ not good but at least it is something that you can fix! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 So I'm going about my business, and notice that Linux Mint says it's got backport updates I could install to upgrade critical portions of the user interface from Mint v13 to Mint v16. And then I read the instructions and the list of caveats, and said, "No thanks." I like how Linux doesn't just force you to update stuff and thus break things without asking you first. They even let you continue to install security updates without updating anything else. I likey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 BOy I get that, says AnneLine looking at the smoking hulk of her desktop computer tower brand new doorstop.... auto updates can ... result in major changes. Like to a new computer.... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 And speaking of computers, look at this beauty I dug up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 :drool: how big is that thing, ARFink? Are those normal-sized cords in there? If so it must be pretty tiny?! And what makes you so excited about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Yeah, it's really tiny in there, and I do have to use special laptop-sized drives, although it takes desktop class CPU and RAM instead of the smaller laptop parts. So that's pretty cool. I think it's neat to see that level of integration and space-saving. One of the main reasons it can be that small is that a lot of stuff gets cut out, including PCI expansion and the PSU is external, which really makes it tiny. Of course, perhaps the coolest thing with this case is that unlike a laptop, if you wanted to put a top of the line Intel Haswell processor in there, you (maybe) could. I think it might cook itself to death without better cooling, but if you're into putting a Haswell into a teeny tiny box the size of a medium hardbound book, well, you'll find a way. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Today's been a very off day. I'm already tired and on edge, I'm not really hungry, and I've not gotten much done for work. Blah. To top it off, the new tube might not even come this week, I got the shipping info only just today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I'm sorry Fink. Try to feel better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 For today's feeling-blue remedy, I decided to take a tip from antarctic explorers of old: when you wake up, make yourself really cold. Ok, so I didn't go out in the snow. I can't just DO that to myself. :P I started my shower hot and eventually changed over to cold. It was initially extremely unpleasant, but after about 3 seconds of "holy croutons holy croutons cold I'm doing to die" it really did wake me up very well. Been doing alright today since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploomf Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 You are a crazy man and you sounded way to awake and upbeat when you called me at the unnatural hour of 10 in the morning. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Today's postings about the saint of the month seem to be going quite well. I must have found the magical time of day to post on Facebook. Last time I posted, nothing happened, but this time I got huge response. The difference seems to be that today I posted at 11:30 AM Central, which seems to be a "hot" time to post stuff on Facebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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