Well, just as I suspected. My sleeping plans... throw them out the door. I tried off and on from about 09:30 'til 16:30 yesterday to get to sleep. Didn't work out that way. Couldn't do it. Got to sleep about 16:45, Karen woke me up at 17:30, asking if I forgot that I was supposed to work at Medassist. I hadn't forgotten, I called them at about 13:00 to let them know that I wouldn't be in.
The two main reasons why I couldn't sleep? I was spending most of my time on the toilet, and my stomach hurt. Kinda like what Karen had. Exactly what Karen had, otherwise I would've thought that it was food poisoning. But I seem to be doing all right now, but I try not to get too far from a bathroom. I did have the good sense not to eat, so I didn't have the upchucking problem.
Another problem was that damned disk drive. I just cannot help thinking about it. I am at the point now where I am gonna get the sonofabitch working no matter what, I don't care how long it takes, I will not let a chunk of metal and silicone defeat me!
Not like it hasn't happened before...
Fairly constantly, in fact.
I did get the old 486 going, though. I put the original HD in it (a 540Meg) and finally got it going. Tried WIN95 on it again, still no-go. I don't understand that, it worked so well for so long... anyway, I put WIN 3.1 on it, and it worked great. So... my latest great idea... is to put the 1.2 gig drive in as a second drive and see if I can get it to work in there. One of the things in the back of my mind was... is that damned disk any good, anyway? but since WIN95 still won't run on the 486, the disk is probably good. So anyway, I'll get it working there, then I'll get all of the files I need off of it, then stick it back in the Compaq and format it. I have been trying really hard to save that data. I had an opportunity early on in the process yesterday to format it, and I said no. Now I have to remember which configuration that was... I went through about a hundred yesterday. But once I can get about ten files off of it, it's gonna get formatted.
One of the files that I really need to get is the setup file for my Reveal TV500 card. Reveal is out of business, and the WIN95 driver that I got off of their web site is on the old HD. Their site is gone, and there are two places in the world that have that file on-line. An 888 K file. I tried the German site, got half of it. And again, and again. Kept cutting off. Then I found another site in the states, I got 880K before it cut me off. Pretty damned frustrating.
Then all of my original songs and poetry files are on there. And a lot of grafix files that, while not really important, I would like to have... and on and on. So you can see why I wanted to save the data, huh.
So, Doug, why don't you do backups, then?
About 16:00, I checked my email. The machine worked and worked... and worked. Jeez, thought I, someone is probably sending me the bible! It finally put the header up... it was from my brother Dan. He just got a scanner, and I had asked him to send me some pix. And he did. I was relieved to see that. I don't really want to be persecuted by the religious right, it just seems that way sometimes...
I spend a lot of time talking about sleep and bitching about life in general in this journal. It gets it out of my system so that I can live a fairly normal life. I could make this a lot more interesting if I would start making stuff up, but too many people I know read this, and they would catch me. So that's out.
I'm also behind on my "monthly" essay. That's because I can't think of anything to write about. Maybe the cursedness of computers would be a good topic... but then they could make things even worse for me.
So, a long, boring night so far. My fingers tremble as I write this... but I did knock on wood. Well, not really. I spent a couple of hours working on the files, and I'm sore from moving xray jackets. One of the file sections is just the wrong height for me, gets my back every time. And my arms, too. Once again, I find that I am not well suited for physical labor, or for being bored, either. But sometimes I feel guilty when I don't have patients to do... and all of the cute nurses are either busy or off tonight, so I can't even hang around and flirt. So I work. The last alternative, in this case.
I do need to say something positive. I really love Karen. Without her, I feel that I would have no goals in life, and no satisfaction or happiness. I sure am lucky to have her... even taking her kids into consideration!
07:37 12/12/96: Amazed at me, I am! I feel great. I don't understand it. I'm gonna put that on the long list of things that I don't understand...
Hey, that's a tomorrow project. Maybe I'll get a tape drive someday, or a zip or something like that. Sure would make life easier... and less interesting, too. See, I've written about a page of babble that I wouldn't've had the opportunity to write!