18 January 2008

I like to think of myself as a bit of a technical guy with an innate ability to open up complicated gizmos, see what’s wrong and fix things. I like to think I understand what’s happening under-the-hood and can confidently explain to others what’s going on and how it could be improved. In reality I don’t know shit.

We have a video player we bought back in 2000-ish which like all good consumer electronics failed miserably after the warranty expired. We had it repaired once which almost cost more than a new player. It has power going to it (I know because the little LCD screen lights up ocassionally) but the thing is spastic. It flashes on every few seconds making all the little mechanisms hum and do their thing for about half a second. It can eject but it takes a few minutes of flashing to do it. I took the lid off, took one look and headed to TradeMe to look for a new one…then had second thoughts etc etc. We have a DVD player and most of our movies are on DVD. Unfortunately a few good ones are on video and because of wonderful and righteous copyright laws can’t be transferred [easily or legally] to DVD. I don’t know enough to fix the video player, can’t justify getting a new one, the expense of repairing this one or buying the movies again on DVD, won’t get much money from selling the old videos (certainly not what I paid for them) but can’t transfer them to DVD and I am beginning to feel like a chump.

I solve Linux problems by cutting and pasting commandlines from forums.

I have also taken my little helicopter apart to make some repairs. Actually I understand what’s going on in there but to be honest she ain’t a complex beastie. I’m sure the little 4-in-1 controller thing is highly complex but I can’t figure out how to open it for a look so it’s safe. After a few days practice I can also hover and fly the little thing around quite happily now. I have gone from snapping rotor blades in half to breaking the tips off one or two every couple of days (usually when I try something complex like landing on the coffee table and miss). Both landing gear have been broken (to be fair they were made with the same competence the video player was) and have repaired with a design of my own. The helicopter now sports two little wire skids that have been engineered for strength and flexibility under hard landings. Much more in line with my style.

Yesterday four spokes on the back wheel of my bike gave up. I’m assuming their warrantly is expired. They went with a ping and broke off the little heads that hold them in. The wheel buckled and the local bike store, the one within walking distance, has just gone out of business. My bike is my transport and a joy in my life. The handlebars are adorned with clips for a computer, light and camera. It is set up for my comfort and has done the miles with me. I don’t like it when it needs to go in for repairs.

I saw a little girl riding a bike with spinners in the wheels. It looked very cool, although hurt my head a bit when she stopped but the wheels didn’t. Kids have got it right.