I had it all ready for you yesterday, but then didn't put it up. Well, I'll fix that!

 

[[image:wheres-he-looking.png:What's he Looking At:center:0]]

 

Hello? My eyes are up here!

 

So the first one of the day went... odd. When he opened the HP Director or whatever you call it, it gave some IE script error, because relying on the browser to do your work for you, HP, is a wonderful idea. So I took it out and waited around 35 minutes for the driver to download. Here's another tip, HP, I do not want to have to download all the crap software you want to force on me, every time I need a printer driver. I do not need the HP Customer Experience, HP Web Printing,  HP Image Gallery, HP "please buy our ink" campaign leaflet, or the oft popular HP "why did we buy compaq again?" excuses list. Here's an idea, I hate to bring up AOL but at least they did figure this out: allow me to download a small program, say, half a megabyte, that then lets me choose what other HP products to download. Perhaps by, I don't know, recognizing what's plugged into the machine? It's 2010, I think we can let the computer figure that out now, rather then tediously typing in the model number, selecting it from all the "v", "u", and "xi" models we've never heard of, then selecting which one of the sixteen billion windows operating systems (32bit or 64bit?) we happen to be using, to finally download a huge installer full of a bunch of crap we won't install anyway. 

 

And it'll ease your workload as well! People will always get the latest version of HP Lollypop Design Maker without you having to remake all the executable installers under the sun, your customer's lives would be eased, it's gin and tonics all round! Hold the gin. 

 

This makes me want to show you a comic I saw today, which seems appropriate.

 

[[popup:2009-08-10.gif:It's bigger then this window, and contains swearing, so it'll pop up when you hit this link.::center:1]]

 

But after messing about with it for what seemed like hours- Oh, right, I was saying what I did. Right, got side tracked there, sorry. Uh, right, took the old one out, tried to install it, which of course failed. And of course, the HP software fails, it rolls back EVERYTHING you just spent twenty minutes installing, rather then saying, oh, so sorry, installing X didn't work, so you won't be able to do X, but I'm pressing on in the hope things will be fine without X in any case, if they aren't, check the website for details on how to troubleshoot installing X by itself. Nope, not going to do it. Roll it back boys, if they don't get HP Fairy Dust Meter I'll never forgive myself so better they don't get anything at all. Thanks HP, a shining example of good code. So I tried the "minimal install" which for a wonder worked out, though he has to go through some alt+spacebar nonsense when he opens the director but that's a small price to pay. So I finally left and came home to eat lunch. 

 

Tried to reach Mitch but he was not there. One person called me, where I had just been yesterday. Somehow he made himself a new XP account called "outlook express" which he was running simultaneously with his "j" account and after that had been deleted his actual outlook express window was so messed up it makes me wonder if he was just clicking blindfolded at the screen while drunk. Of course this screen was a total mystery to him, "how did it ever come to pass?" but I set it right in about a second so... no big deal all around. 

 

Changed my oil as it was nice out. The oil pan nut came right off, no problem. I think the hole must be bigger, it just waterfalled out of there quite vigorously. The problem came from the filter. On chibi-kuruma a light twist and off she came *pop* no problem. This one I grabbed, gave a twist, and- nothing. "The heck?" I exclaimed, rather pointedly.  So after about a half hour of twisting, pleading, banging, failing, twisting again, I gave up and looked at my old friend, teh interwebs. There were some suggestions, but they didn't work or were too messy to contemplate. So in defeat I had to get dad over here with what I call tools to see what he could do. Sorry about that dad. After he left I had a funny kinda feeling, and said to myself: "self, better double check it" and I gave it a quick twist, and what do you know it was glued there again! "AAARRRGGG". Said Peter. So I spent my maximum energy (up to your RESolve, you know) and pulled it back about a million pounds per square inch of pressure and it turned, so I tightened it just enough that I can probably get it off the next time. It's in this really awkward spot, pointing straight down. I liked the position on chibi-kuruma much better. Oh well. 

 

So, thanks dad, for coming over. Just remember that next time, you're dealing with the guy whose arms are more like His Noodly Appendages then the Bronzed Arms of Thor. 

 

Dinner. Didn't reach half the people that called me, so, whatever. Two for tomorrow, and one system that got dropped off tonight.