DaveTheAnalyzer

Last weekend was a trifecta of technical problems. On Saturday, our wifi suddenly went out. I observed Dad and helped what little I could to find what the problem was. I was concerned when the wifi box smoked as Dad experimented with it but after cutting some wires and testing their voltage, he brought the Internet back, even if it went in and out for a bit. Then Dad needed my help to fix air conditioning for a live-in relative’s car. It seems like some wires were reversed since it only worked when the car was off. With high 90s heat coming, Dad had to come up with a solution. He couldn’t figure out where the problem was and how to reverse it, so he made a stopgap that would bypass the problem (I’m being vague in case it breaks some law). Then last Monday, the wifi kept slowing and then going out, leading to Dad having to grumpily reset it twice. It was stressful. I tried to follow what he was saying but his explanations weren’t always intuitive. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fix things and figure out problems like he does. I also dealt with a slowing laptop but I think I got to redo some of it by changing to having the highest power plan.

That’s all for now. I recovered from having a tooth filling redone today and will have to go back at the end of July for the other fillings to be fixed. Free Palestine and no war with Iran. Until the end of July, see you!

On Friday, my laptop’s screen issues got even more aggravating. I had to type this paragraph 1 handed that day while another hand pressed the bottom strip below the screen. The constant screen discoloring and even freezing even when I touched other parts of the laptop was frustrating and I tried all combinations of pressing and moving the screen up and down. I’m afraid that might have exasperated the problems. I asked dad to get the screwdriver he used for taking apart the laptop to see if pulling the screen off and back on helped. I lost a screw 3 separate times, the last time I thought I lost it for good. Still, pulling it off and putting it back on seems to alleviate the problem somewhat, so I’ve been keeping the screwdriver nearby. Before I ran across that solution, this problem finally made me go on Ebay and order another screen but when it arrived today, its video cable port was smaller and so have to send it back tomorrow. I didn’t learn from last time that I should look up the model number of a part I want to replace. I did that earlier and it’ll be here within 2-5 days. Hopefully I chose the right 1. Maybe finally I’ll at last get rid of the screen freezing and flickering I’ve been dealing with for nearly a decade. It’s been severely cutting into my time writing, and reading and watching things I like.

That’s all for now. Down with Trump and down with apartheid in Gaza and the West Bank. May hostages on all sides be free. Until the end of May, see you!

I’m getting more screen freeze issues, so after some digging, I found the model number for my laptop and was able to track down and order the exact screen wire for it. I didn’t order the other parts yet because I didn’t want to have another situation like last month where they didn’t fit after all. If it works, I’ll order more parts in the future. While dealing with the screen issue, the white wire of the 2 wires for the wifi antenna broke. It still allowed me to use to the Internet but it was inconvenient. Dad fixed it last Friday but when bending the screen up and down to make the screen unfreeze, the white wire broke again. I think I found a replacement but I’ll have to double-check if it’s the super-exact right model. Maybe I should ask Dad to show me how to take apart the laptop myself. He’s getting on in years and I want to be able to deal with more of these technical problems at my own discretion.

That’s all for now. Free Palestine and the hostages on all sides. May Trump and Musk fail utterly in their goals. See you at the end of March!

Last week was a time of technical difficulties for me. I’ve been struggling with screen issues with my laptop where it would either freeze or change colors for years and in attempting to fix that, my wifi suddenly became very low and gave out with increasing frequency. I was at a loss to the point I asked my dad to fiddle with the wifi but only it only caused more issues for my laptop and only it was experiencing the issues. On Friday, after struggling to watch and play anything, I decided to take the laptop apart to see what was the issue. I accidentally roped my dad into it and he chided me a few times I should have brought replacement parts if we were going to do this. Dad found that the wifi antennae wire was broken and after putting the screen back in, he soldered the wires so they could connect and now my wifi is 3 or 4 out of 4 bars. I owe a lot to him, even if he can be a bit old-fashioned at times. He’s helping order new laptop parts to replace those that are broken. It’ll probably take a while but it’ll be good to have my laptop finally fixed.

Also the headphone jack adaptor for my phone abruptly cut out. After desperately trying to make it work, I tried to order a new adapter, only to find that model completely sold out. I ordered another model but had to return it because it didn’t fit my phone. For now, I have to use earbuds, which aren’t nearly as good and keeping falling out of my ears. I tried to put them in backwards looping the wire behind my ear or pulling my earlobes up before inserting them. I can’t listen to audio dramas while vacuuming, so I had to make do with listening to familiar youtube videos with my regular headphones over the earbuds to pass the time. Looking it up, there’s rumors that Apple’s discontinuing that adapter because it’s for “outdated phones,” which’s distressing since I’m the type to continue using a piece of technology until it’s irrevocably beyond repair. I did find and order an equivalent adapter but I hope it won’t be an increasingly expensive struggle to keep ordering. Moreover, I want to order another adapter so I can have 1 handy when my new current 1 breaks. I don’t want to be caught unawares like this again.

I’m a couple chapters away from completing the third draft for the mon-inspired story. It likely still needs more rewrites but I want to leap to its sequel and have another pair of eyes look at it. I need to make sure it’s comprehensible to a reader. I’ve finished doing most of the fanfic plot outlines and last did writing for the Digimon Tamers fanfic. It had its ups and downs but I enjoyed myself. I planned to pause in January to do another rewrite of a plot outline but getting a cold on Sunday put my writing on hold. Just when I almost made up for all the missed writing days from being sick last year. Ah well, having days where I double-up on my writing has its perks and it means the weekend writing doesn’t become too neglected as a result.  

That’s all for 2024. I’m writing this on Monday night.  Free Palestine and hostages on all sides. May Trump and his is ilk fail utterly in their tasks. Until the end of the first month of 2025, see you!

We’ll have to deal with having only 1 car at the moment. The other was rarely used and it became too much of a time and cost sink with it repeatedly breaking down. I hope we’ll be able to manage since my younger brother, who can drive, has a weekend job he’ll now need to be dropped off at, and my older brother and I are still looking for jobs and have other appointments that might intersect with events where the car might be used. I guess that means we’ll have to be more diligent in putting our appointments and events on the calendar. I’m glad I decided to get a card for my next lung doctor appointment because when I had mine last week, I only knew I had 1 because I got a 24 hour reminder call. I don’t know if I never got a card or if it got lost but maybe I should write down those dates personally so I can be sure they’ll be there. I hope my insurance won’t force me to go too out of the way to get the care I need, since they’re changing how much they’ll cover and apparently a few providers I go to are going to stop accepting my insurance. Dang it, we need socialized healthcare in this country already!

That’s all for now. Free Palestine. May Trump and his ilk be utter losers in this election and their political clique collapse out of relevancy. Until the end of November, see you!

So, I changed some of my writing and reading patterns again. I discovered on 2 days where I read my library book in between writing that I write more or it’s at least not as much of a slog. This also left me more wiggle before bed, so I decided to switch this to everyday. I was losing interest in the other book I read while writing anyway. For fanfic writing, I’ve finished the plot outline rewrite and will wait 6 weeks before touching it again. In the meantime, I’m doing a bit of Digimon Tamers freewriting, doing scenes that have lingered in my head for a few years now. There isn’t exactly a plot – I just follow where my whims take me. I do think of grafting the first few scenes I wrote on an old outline. I don’t know if anything I’ll write here will be posted but I’m enjoying it and I think that’s good with my focus on completing my mon-inspired original story. With around 20 fanfic writing days left to make up, I decided to shift to once a week so when I run out, it won’t be as jarring to just writing fanfic on weekends. I did miss an original fiction writing day, which I could use when I briefly switch to fanfic writing on weekdays to review and post the final chapters of We Will Hold On Forever. That’ll start on 9/10. I found making up for a missed writing day with the same story I just looked over earlier that day overwhelming. 

That’s all for now. Free Palestine, and release all hostages and political prisoners. Until the end of September, see you!

Fortunately, my umbrella remained intact and the rain and wind let up somewhat the last 3 to 5 minutes before I returned home. But my shoes, shorts, and parts of my shirt were soaked through. I changed out of most of my day clothes a few hours before bed and then decided to put my soaked t-shirt in the hamper too. My shoes were on their way out anyway, so my Mom used their soaked state as an excuse to toss them and for me to use the new shoes she brought that had been sitting near me for several weeks. They do feel a bit loose when I put them on but I’m quickly getting used to them. Maybe I should be more careful when rain appears in the forecast. Though I took another walk a few days ago without an umbrella only to have to start jogging back when it started drizzling, so I wonder how much I learned from that experience lol. In the meantime, I’ll continue to take walks whenever the temperature’s tolerable.

On Monday, I’ll finish draft 2 of the final We Will Hold On Forever chapters. I completed roughly 2-4 pages of rewrites a day and it was so much faster than doing the rewrite notes themselves. I’m going a bit slower with doing draft 3 rewrite notes for my original mon-inspired story. It’s mostly been thinking of smoother and more elegant replacements of clunky sentences and dialogue. There are times where I wonder if I’m not making enough substantive changes. But I surmise I’ll have that clarified if and when I show this original story to others for feedback.

That’s all for now. Free Palestine and hostages on all sides. Until the end of July, see you.

I’ve finished draft 3 rewrite notes for a couple chapters of We Will Hold On Forever. Taking down the things I want to correct takes a while but actually implementing the corrections doesn’t take as long. I even began edits for posting the next chapter today, which mightn’t take too long, since it’s pretty short. It helps that I’m less distracted while writing and editing. I had to delay writing my original fiction more than a couple times this month, including today, and so I decided to push back returning to draft 3 of my mon-inspired original story. I want to linger on the wrestler story a while longer and yes I’m a bit more detailed about what these stories are about, since otherwise it’s difficult to specify which original story I’m talking about otherwise. I wonder if I should post it somewhere for others to review. I read that after completing the 3^rd draft, you could finally show your story to others for feedback.

That’s all for now. It’s frustrating the genocide in Gaza continues but it’s heartening to see all those protesting and acting to stop it. I’ll speak later at the end of May.

Had to deal with my father’s car breaking down again on the way back home from am orthodontist appointment. It was tough waiting, so I eventually put on a news program I watch every weekday. Fortunately, the tow truck appeared within 33 minutes of me starting the program but we didn’t know if or when it was coming, since notifications weren’t working. I hope Dad can find the source of the issue.

Ceasefire for Gaza. Free the hostages. Prosecute Israel and Hamas for genocide and war crimes. See you at the end of March.

I had to move discords but fortunately, most of the people in the previous one migrated and I continue to comment and talk off and on there. I sent out applications for 2 jobs the previous Thursday but I hope to get one, because it would be quite close to home. I’m still waiting for some additional documents so I can submit for that one, but if I don’t get it, I won’t be broken up about it. My treadmill’s got a squeaking problem, which doesn’t bother me too much since I wear headphones but it’s a disturbance to anyone using the room at the moment. My dad found the time to take a look at it a couple weeks ago and I helped him with locating the source. He made the squeak quieter for a time but it rose back up and he’s considering getting the squeaking part replaced. Hopefully that can be dealt with. I need the treadmill to exercise during the cold times.

That’s all for now. I hope next year is better and that Israel’s finally pressured to stop its bombardment of Gaza so the hostages can be freed and Palestinians can finally get out from under apartheid’s boot. Until the end of January, see you!