PC Update 3

The computer that's sick is an HP Compaq. It's their motherboard and case. The CPU setup is unusual. Instead of the heatsink fan being on the heatsink, it's off to the side. A plastic funnel attaches to the fan and funnels air over the heatsink. The normal way it's done is to attach the fan directly to the heatsink either on the side or the top. I've never had a fan that wasn't attached to the top of the heatsink. To accommodate the HP design, their motherboard is clear of obstructions between the fan and the heatsink.

I thought I had everything to put the new parts together in a new case to get the computer working again, but the HP heatsink won't work, because I can't connect the funnel to it. The memory is in the way on one side. The video card is in the way on the other. The other two sides are the walls of the case. I had to order a heatsink/fan combo that fits the motherboard. It's not expensive. There's some good news. It was supposed to get here Tuesday. Amazon is telling me now it'll be here tomorrow.

If I can get it up and running with no more problems, I'll be able to check my main email for the first time in two and a half weeks.

After all the problems already, what could possibly go wrong? Windows might freak out at the new motherboard. I had that happen a long time ago and can't remember what I did. I think I had to reinstall in the end. But that's been a while. Let's hope the new Windows is smarter.

Did I mention I had to use a metal cutter to make the small form factor video card fit the new regular size case? I didn't? Yes, that's what I had to do. I had to cut out this strip of metal. It worked. The video card fits just fine. Oh sure, I can't screw it in place, but it fits perfectly.

The Final Piece

The emergency computer froze during boot up one day, but it's been okay since then considering its age and quirks. The freeze was a warning sign, though.

The last piece I need to fix my computer is "On Vehicle for Delivery Today". It's coming UPS and is supposed to arrive some time before dark.

As I was reading my Bible this week, I had an idea for a vampire story. The passage was in 2 Kings 5 where Naaman was cured of his leprosy and afterward wanted a mule team's load of earth to take home with him. I wondered why he wanted the dirt. What was he going to use it for? Obviously, he wasn't a vampire who needed to sleep in his native soil at night. Besides, he was from Aram. I suppose he wanted to make a place to pray or worship God or something like that. Or maybe it was for some kind of memorial or witness about his miracle. It made me think about vampires, and then the idea struck. I wrote it down just in case. I don't have time for something like that right now, and I don't really do vampire stuff. But it's an idea I haven't heard before. Maybe it could be a novella or short story.

The pace has slowed, but I've still been working on the next book. It's the YA one about the girl trapped in a virtual reality spy game. I think I have the opening sentence for the book after that. It would be about her dad, but he wouldn't be trapped. He plays mysteries. These books would be stand alone rather than a series and might just be two or three books. But there's no time for that right now either. I'm hoping to get the YA rough draft done in a few weeks, especially if I can get my computer running again and have my wiki back and stuff like that.

The goal is to get the next B'vellah War book out before the end of the year. Though not as bad as last year, the obstacles this year haven't been fun. I'm way way behind where I wanted to be by now. As foreshadowed in the first book, the war is a few years off. The next book would begin closer to then and not right after the ending of the first book. It feels really risky to do it that way. It seems like a big gap. However, the Calliope novella would fit nicely between books one and two. I'm not sure when I would be able to get to that. Once the YA book is done, I want to do books 2 and 3 of the B'vellah War back to back.

I could always use prayer and would appreciate it.

PC Update 2

When last we left me, my computer was in a coma. The lights would come on, but it wouldn't boot. The problem looked like the motherboard...

The thermal paste arrived yesterday. The new CPU arrived today. It took a while, but I finally got the thermal grease applied per manufacturer's oddball instructions, the heatsink turned the right way*coughcough* and everything put back together. I prayed for it and hit the power button. The lights come on, but nothing happens.

Last week I said, "although the motherboard could be damaged in some way, but I don't think it is." Apparently, I was wrong. Well, theoretically, there could be something weird going on with the power supply? But I don't think there is. ;) I looked at new power supplies just in case. I didn't see one that fit my HP Compaq 8200 small form factor case.

What now? I can try a new motherboard. Option one: get a manufacturer replacement for this HP Compaq one. I wonder how much that would cost. Option 2: get a new one altogether that's compatible with the memory and peripherals I have plugged in. I'm leaning toward option 2. I've wanted a new power supply anyway. But I'd probably have to buy a new case if I can't find an old one stored away. Have I ever mentioned I'm not made of money? Sure, I have. I've also mentioned how tough the last few years have been. This is what I'm talking about except it isn't as bad as some things.

This problem only cropped up as I shoved some things out of my life to make more time for writing. Coincidence? Could there be a supernatural force trying to hinder me?

The good news is I've been getting a lot of writing done on the old emergency computer I've been using.

PC Update

It appears the problem with my computer is the CPU, the most expensive thing that could have gone wrong. That's based on looking up the symptoms online. The video card wasn't the culprit. I skipped checking the memory since it never booted to the point of giving me a memory error message. The network port had a green light showing it was alive and a yellow light showing the computer couldn't connect to it, so that was good. At least it knew there was a network and that it should try to connect. The power supply and fan worked fine. Nearly the only thing left was the CPU, although the motherboard could be damaged in some way, but I don't think it is.

All things considered, I ordered a new CPU last night for $244.45. Ouch! Add another $7.10 today for thermal paste. I can't really afford the expense, but it's such a necessity if I want to keep writing and interneting. The thermal paste "should" arrive Wednesday. I'm still waiting for shipping info on the CPU.

If this doesn't fix it, then the next step would be a new motherboard. If it does fix it, then I'm immediately uninstalling Windows 10. I wasn't having problems before "upgrading". No blue screens of death. No series of inexplicable reboots. No weirdness or any indication of any kind of impending hardware failure.

In the meantime I'm using an emergency computer. It's older and slower and loud. It occasionally locks up and could die altogether. However, it runs OpenOffice, and I've been getting some good work done on the next book. And yes, I'm backing up!

Email came in while I was typing. The CPU should get here by the end of the week at the latest.

Making Changes

There's good news and bad news. It's been a rough year on the writing front. I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I wanted to. Everything seems to get in the way to block, hinder or disrupt me. I've been telling myself that something has to change. I have too many demands on my time. I'm not one of those writers who makes a living from it. Writing is something I have to fit in on the side. I hope it becomes something I can do full time, but so far it isn't. However, lately I've been able to cut a couple of things out of my life or at least put them on the back burner and see what happens. So far, it's working. Just not having the stress of thinking about them so much is a load off. I may go into detail in the other blog, but bad things are happening right now. I'll get to that in a minute.

This week has been the best writing week in months. I saw some really good progress. This problem that seemed huge turned out to be easy to get past. I've been excited. It's been looking very good. Until today.

I sat down to work on the blog. I needed to step away from the computer for about 20 minutes. When I got back, I was looking at a Windows 10 blue screen of death. I was able to update Windows this week after fixing the compatibility problem I had. I suspect Windows 10 caused the crash, but I can't prove it. I tried to reboot, and nothing happened. I shut everything down and did a cold restart. The machine starts up but never seems to get to POST. Basically, it's dead, and I don't know why. I wasn't doing anything on it. It was just sitting there waiting for me to get back. The glaring difference between this week and last week is Windows 10. I suspect the motherboard is the problem, but I'm going to test the video card and the memory just in case.

I hadn't backed up what I've accomplished this week. If it turns out to be the hard drive, which it doesn't appear to be, then that would be bad. Everything is on the hard drive. I have my writing backed up to USB but not anything from this week.

What can I do? Test the video card and memory and go from there. The PC doesn't appear get to the point of trying to use them, though, which makes me think motherboard. But if it was fried, it wouldn't do anything at all, and it does at least power on. I really need a new computer, but I'm not rich. I got the one I've been using in a sale to replace my ancient Pentium 4. It was a leased business computer with Windows 7 Pro on it, which is how I was able to get Windows 10.
What if it's the motherboard? I can order another one. It wasn't a new computer. It should be fairly cheap, if I can find one just like it. If I got another one, and it doesn't fix the problem(like it was the CPU that was fried and not the motherboard), then things might be bad. CPUs are more expensive, and I can't throw money away buying part after part.

So, I might try to post updates to Twitter @messengerofyesh, but I don't know. I'm not a big tweeter. If something good happens, I'll post a happy dance blog ASAP.

A Little Leaven

I don't listen to secular radio stations at home or in the car, but I hear them when I'm out. Of course, I listened to tons of it when I was a strapping young lad. Sometimes I'll think of a secular song or hear one and wonder if it's okay to add it to my song list. I'll check the lyrics. I've noticed something. Usually, there's a single line that ruins the whole song. The rest of it can seem Biblically okay. Then there's that one line that clearly violates the word. It's a drop of poison in a spoonful of sugar.

The Bible doesn't have the concept of partial truth. Something is either true or it isn't. It even says that false prophets can prophesy things that come to pass. That's not the test. The test is the false prophecy. All it takes is one. The 1800s had two great false prophets in the U.S., Joseph Smith of Mormonism and Ellen White of Seventh Day Adventism. Neither appears to have been Christian much less a prophet, but they knew how to put on a good show. To this day their followers ignore the lies and concentrate only on the things that give the appearance of lining up with the word. Had those false prophets lived in ancient Israel, they would have been stoned to death and all their writings burned. We would not know their names.

Joseph Smith prophesied that a temple would be built in Missouri before the people of his generation died. Ellen White prophesied to an entire congregation that she would still be alive when Jesus returned and that some of them would be, too. They're all dead, and those things never happened. They both made multiple false prophecies. I tested the spirit of Adventism one time and discovered that the spirit behind it was the same spirit behind Mormonism. Satan was busy in the 1800s, but that's a blog for another day. I'll give a sneak preview. A critical link that ties them together is freemasonry.

The Mormon church just released photographs of Joseph Smith's "seer stone". It's kind of like a magical rock that allegedly helped him to translate secret writings. The Mormon church are releasing some information to the public to help people find them more accessible or something. Adventists did the same thing in 1899. They published all the writings of Ellen White up to that time. It turned out to be a disaster. They contained false prophecies, blasphemies and things that didn't line up with the Bible. Adventists literally had to send people around the world to steal copies out of libraries and replace them with updated, edited versions. I wonder if the Mormons learned from that.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. It can be hard to find the leaven sometimes, especially when people are deliberately trying to hide it behind a coating of sugar.