I just want to say it: I Heart You.
But I can't.
Because I'm a big sissy.
And I don't want them to run away.  I don't want them to leave.  I don't want it to be awkward.  I don't want it to change but in the way I want - we fall helplessly in love.

And that shall never happen, I know.

I've had too many desires like that.
Too many.
And they've all been failures.

Why would this be any different?

I heart you.
And you don't know it.
Yet I try to tell you.
I want to just yell it so you'll hear, even though I'm not quite loud enough.
I sit here at my computer, and as I'm talking to you, I say it to you, "I heart you", and you don't hear me.
Why won't you hear me?
I tell you all the time.  I think about it even while we're not talking online, just keep saying "I heart you", and hoping that you'll hear it.

I just want to throw myself into the computer, through the wires, and end up with you.  I want to be there, see you, hear you, tell you that I heart you, want to just see what it is that I heart.

Hell, it'll never happen though.
You don't even know that I heart you.
I listen to the same damn song again and again and it's all about you.
I listen to it because it makes me feel sad, because I need to feel sad.  I need to know that I really heart you and aren't just feeling like this on a whim.
I want to know that I really do heart you.

I just want you to know that I'm trying.
I want to tell you, but I can't.
So I say it outloud to you through the computer and hope that you'll hear.

Why is it so common? It’s an easy mistake to make during the electrical wiring process and usually the receptacles will work fine even when polarity is reversed.

Is Reverse Polarity Dangerous?
Although shock from the improperly wired receptacle itself is not likely, it can be dangerous for an RV connected to a power source with reverse polarity. If the power source is not correctly wired, your RV itself can become “hot," which means you could become a conductor if you were to touch your coach while walking around the outside. Obviously this could cause serious injury or even death under certain circumstances.

Another risk is that the safety mechanism on an electrical device connected to a reverse polarity source of power may not kick in, which could cause serious injury. For example, a power tool may start automatically as soon as it’s plugged into the improperly wired receptacle – or it may not shut off when you try turning it off.

Before you hook up to any unknown power source, you should use a circuit tester to check for correct wiring. Plug the tester into all the receptacles – both top and bottom – for an accurate reading. You should always test the outlet before hooking up, but if you’ve already plugged in, unplug your RV and don’t use the outlet until it’s repaired. Make sure to report the problem to the campground owner at once.

To read more valuable articles on RV Maintenance Tips or how to keep your RV safe for travel, visit the Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service website, www.goodsamers.com

Pesky wires are always a problem with modern gadgets. All of those gadgets need to be charged. Strabes found an interesting solution to this problem. Strabes turned a drawer from a nightstand into a handy charging station.

My latest post over at Unplggd...

I am a capable human being that has been given the gift of all five senses ~ and a brain ~ they are meant to be used for betterment. Try.

Rooftop and Treetrunk,
Ink and Watercolour

when i was little, i thought to myself, "wow, my drawings are pretty great!"

but now...they're total shit. well maybe not that extreme, but i'm not too proud of them.

so i wondered  to myself...what can i do that involves art, but doesn't involve me drawing or painting or sculpting. then art history came to mind. and of course, it's my major now.

but i've always wanted to create art. 

to express myself. 

so i started to scrapbook. not the ordinary type of scrapbooking. but collages and 

pieces of memories thoughtfully pasted together. 

which brings me to today.

after watching imogen heap blogging about her album on youtube,

i suddenly got the urge to finally finish my scrapbook..and i knew exactly

what i wanted to do. 

i remember having this kit to make flowers which came with wires.

so i decided to use that. and luckily enough...i created things that made me smile.

i hope to make some more complex things..but for now flowers will do...and the butterfly was made by accident!

Apparently there is going to be a Sequenza21 (nice internet magazine for contemporary classical) concert this coming December. I read that there had been another concert in the past sometime, so I Youtubed it and found a work of the very gifted composer, Anthony Cornicello, titled "The Gloved One." Its really cool.

Enjoy!

They always tangle or get knotted up!

I’m talking about the cords — those highly functional bits of strands without which we cannot turn on our gadgets unless they are battery operated. I untangle them every day, or every other day, but soon they will again be all tangled and knotted up. I keep thinking they simply have a habit of “messing” themselves up. Perhaps to annoy the impatient me? :-(

I also noticed that they tangle in a way that is not easy to fix. Often, for me to fix them, I will have to unplug one or all of them. It just wouldn’t do without some unplugging, which is a bit annoying when you are currently using the gadget to which they are attached. Like me, I use wired connection, so I often do not want to fix the tangled cords because I would lose my connection, which sometimes I need to do for me to get something else working, say my speaker which is plugged on the same socket.

So yeah, I sometimes think life is so much easier without these cords. But then, when I need them and I find that I don’t have them (like when I went home to Nueva Vizcaya last year and realized I did not have my PC charger) I realize I couldn’t properly work without them. Hah!  It’s during these moments that I realize just how much gadget-dependent I am. (But that is not really the point of the post, sorry.)

Back to tangling and untangling. This afternoon, as I crouched down to yet again untangle and unknot my cords, a thought hit me: cords are very much like us. No matter how careful we are, we always get caught up in tangles we never wanted to find ourselves in. And no matter how often we untangle ourselves, we just keep getting knotted up and tangled. I involuntarily shook my head at the idea.

I went on with my untangling; my fingers getting impatient every second. Then I realized that one of the cords had to be removed from the socket for me to completely untangle them. I proceeded to do just that. But then, I realized that if I do it, I would be unplugging my internet connection. Because I was working on something important, I decided not to untangle the cords yet and let them stay messed up until I finished what I was working on.

Needless to say, I paused with my untangling and continued with my work.

But now, as I look back to what transpired this afternoon, another thought hit me and it was this: “We tend to postpone fixing our lives because we think that our mess can wait until we are done with what we perceive to be more important. And, even when we know that we need to do some drastic measure to fix our lives, like uprooting something, we decide not to — or at least not just yet, until we are ready.

What do you think?

[PS: As I was typing my wrap-up question, an idea hit me (yeah, again!): That perhaps the tangling/knotting up of my cords was not meant to annoy me, but to teach me a lesson on patience. Hmmm… that sounds like a better way of looking at it. ;-) ]

//Sherma E. Benosa

10 June 2008; 11:15pm

________________

PLUG: Latest at The Witten World – TELL ME YOUR SONG. 

Denon, Japanese consumer electronic manufacturers is trying to justify the pricing of an Ethernet cable, no longer than 1.5 meters long for 499$US. It is no secret, Denon is considered an "elite" brand, however I can't wait for them to explain to consumers why one should spend up to 200 times more on their cables when a your typical Ethernet cable works just as well and will be much longer as well.

The following link shows the specs of the cable

You know, this goes along with brands selling high price components such as HDMI, coaxial and optical cables. It has been proven again and again that, in the end, there is little to no difference at all between a cable you buy say at 20$ and the one at 100$ as long as some base specifications are included.

Denon literally thinks they can sucker people to think that they have the cable of choice. If anyone would come up to me and say they paid their Ethernet or HDMI cable at such a price as a bragging right, I would literally laugh at their face and call them suckers. Of course there are always suckers for stuff like this and if they don't research they deserve to be robbed that much.

As mentioned Denon is obviously considered an "elite" brand where the sale of only 1 receiver is the equivalent of 10-20 receivers for other manufacturers which is why they can afford to sell less units. However, things like these never last and we have seen "elite" brands go down big time. This type of behavior will not help them. If you know the "Monster" brand, you will know what I mean.

Look at Sony! They were once considered "the brand" to get. Not anymore...(I'm not giving Sony hate here as I have many products of theirs, I'm just stating fact)!

In the end it's also the consumer authorities that have to look into these kind of practices and ask manufacturers like Denon or Monster or what ever other "elite" brand what justifications for such a high price product are when two shelves below you can get - and lets be honest with each other, for every day use - THE SAME thing for 10$.

Tomorrow is the doctor's appointment, so still no update there.

Now, for the video card conclusion...
Yeah, I know you've been wondering...
(Thank you Sweetie for the suggestion.)

A local friend said he might have a jumper thingy if I can wait until Monday. Well, technically, I could wait until Monday. I didn't want to, but I could...
And I did. I waited until Monday.

Monday I was "in town" (Hubby had his pt and ot) and still hadn't heard from my friend. So, while I was in town I went hunting. No, no. I did not get out my gun and look for deer or turkey. I got out my van and looked for video or electronic stores.

After much searching and false hope, I came across a relocated computer repair store. It was not the one I was headed to, but it was on the way.
I parked. Daughter and I got out, took a deep breath, and went in. We were greeted by a gentleman who asked "Can I help you?"
I replied with "I don't know. I hope so."

I told him what I was looking for and he frowned in thought. With a few words, he disappeared into the back room. I stood there, unsure if I was to follow or not. After a minute or two he return with the exact piece I needed.

Side note: I did find some online so I knew how much one would cost. Most of them were cheap. As in less than shipping and handling charges. So, if I found one local that was equal to or less than what I would spend online, I would get it. With s&h, if I found one local over priced, it would probably still be about the same amount of money.

Okay, so the man came around the corner with a power cord extension cable in his hand. It was perfect!
I am sure my face reflected the relief and joy I felt. I asked how much and he said... And I quote "Nothing. You can have it."
Daughter said "Praise the Lord!" and as I smiled I expressed my thanks!

Eventually we made it home (we had to wait for man to finish his recovery therapy).
You know it didn't take long before I was down disconnecting and pulling out the tower.

(Another Side Note: Sorry. I forgot to take a picture of the cable.)

I installed the video card. Tested it out. The fan was loud. Hmm... Then BLACK! NNnnoooo!!!!
My monitor said there was no video feed.
I wanted to cry. Scream. Pout. Have a tempter tantrum that would make a 2 year old "Daaannng, Woman, get a grip!"

I debated with myself on card issue or monitor issue. I decided it could not be a monitor issue since the monitor was saying no feed. Well, it was less likely the monitor anyhow.
I thought about, and even began searching for tech support.
Yeah, they love those calls "Help! My screen is black!" .............

I took the tower back out, opened it up, moved some things around, pushed somethings down, repositioned some wires, prayed, took deep breaths, put on my serious face....
put it all back together, restarted it......

IMAGES!!!

I checked drivers, again.
I tentatively put the card to the test... again. Started off slow. Did everything I did before the big black-out. Still worked. I noticed the card was a LOT quieter too.

Oh yeah!

I went into a virtual world... 3D graphics... lots of work on the card....
And survived. I revisited blogs with pictures... several times.
I went back into the virtual world and "hung out" with friends.

So far, so good.

I went to a site where I watch movies... Not so good. BUT, everything else worked. So, I am chalking that up to site-issues not card-issues.

So, long-story (even though I did leave some details out) summary?
IT WORKS!!!!
I found the part I needed (Thank you LORD!)
And it works!!!!!

Still not top of the line graphics, but oh so much the step up!

Now, if only I had new monitor........

Taken outside a house in Jaipur. Very wire-y.