BAD HAIR DAY
Posted: 11 May 2026, 01:14
BAD HAIR DAY
1 January 2006
Saturday the 31st of December 2005 was a bad hair day and this was nothing to do with it being New Year’s Eve. I was in bed early the night before and so the day started well at 04:40 with a cup of tea and a nice quiet stroll to empty Jack who is still on light duties because of a bad cut on his leg. So far, so good.
Regular readers of the NOPs will know that my mate Doc and I have built a new computer designed to take all the waiting out of everything inside the machine (I call it the Flying Machine because that’s what it is intended to be, FM from here on). I haven’t cracked the problem of bandwidth yet! Of course we have had glitches, the main one being our inability to get the dual graphics cards to work together. Never mind the technicalities but suffice it to say that even with the correct drivers we haven’t been able to get them to talk to each other.
I woke yesterday morning convinced that a new and radical approach was needed. After clearing up the mail and traffic on OGFB I put plan Z3 into action and lost all control of the machine. I eventually tracked this down to a glitch in the keyboard which meant that the function keys were reversing their functions in a random manner. By 9am I was back in production without having solved the original problem.
At 11am Doc rolled in announcing that he thought he had a solution. He put it into effect and lost everything, including the ability to boot the system. Ah, the joys of DIY computer building! Eventually we decided that the best thing to do was to replace the new box with the old IBM and for Doc to take the new machine away and do a comprehensive re-working of everything. So, by 3pm I had the old IBM running quietly and competently, albeit slowly, on the new super screen.
So what? How does a small domestic incident like this warrant expenditure of valuable writing time? Well, knowing me, you won’t be surprised to learn that I started a major ponder on the metaphysics of my actions and reactions during the course of the day. (Before you reach for the dictionary to question the use of that word here’s one accepted definition: “The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.”)
I didn’t find anything new, just a re-appraisal of a particular character trait which I believe has served me well for the last 70 years. I am greatly affected when the order fails. This covers a host of circumstances, losing something, erroneous thinking, lack of logic and in this case, a machine that isn’t working to its maximum potential. The only difference between now and fifty years ago is that I have learned to exercise more control over my emotional reactions in these circumstances. Note, not perfect control, that would negate the benefits of being driven to repair the fault, just enough control to stop the emotional response from getting out of control. Following me so far? The saying that covers it is “don’t get mad, get even”.
I talked to daughter Janet in Oz about the problem and she was very supportive. She told me that the logical way I was attacking the problem was exactly how she pursues problems in software. Resisting the ‘poking’ approach and attacking the problem logically by pursuing it down through the various layers of control, testing as you proceed, until in the end you reach the core of the problem and don’t simply attack the symptoms. Isn’t it wonderful to have support like that! My daughters are brilliant!
There is a subsidiary problem, it is quite possible that the re-working of the FM will include a complete re-format resulting in the loss of all data. Not a big problem because I have all the work pre-FM backed up onto DVD and I simply mailed another daughter, Margaret, in Oz and asked her to send me all the articles and NOPs she has received since December the 1st. They arrived this morning and are safely stowed away on my separate data hard drive, before I start anything else I shall back them up. So, one valuable lesson there, off-site backups on a trusted PC works wonderfully. By the way, as I write there are two Brooks articles outstanding, numbers 2 & 4. I’m sure that Margaret will have them but if any of you would like to forward the mails to me including the pics it would be appreciated.
How did I cope eventually? Not bad actually, I allowed my excitement and aggression to drive me on but kept enough control to allow me to function. I suppose that’s the most valuable result of the ponder. When things get bad it’s OK to go into hyper drive, the trick is to retain enough control to allow you to function efficiently. The danger sign is if the emotions start to get in the way of action, you’ve all seen it, ‘headless chicken syndrome’.
One thought struck me this morning when I switched the trusty IBM on and it functioned perfectly and almost silently. The FM has six fans and water cooling and in comparison sounds like a washing machine! In that respect, it is a retrograde step. I came to the conclusion that this is a trade-off, more noise for greater power. That reminds me of every engine I have ever worked on and I managed to accept that so why not with a PC? So yes, it’s all worth it and I look forward to the return of the grey monster when Doc has ripped its guts out and worked his magic. The nice thing is that he is as compulsive as I am and you can bet your bottom dollar that when he returns it we shall have even more power and speed. Bit like old blokes having fast dogs and driving red Ferraris isn’t it.
1 January 2006
1 January 2006
Saturday the 31st of December 2005 was a bad hair day and this was nothing to do with it being New Year’s Eve. I was in bed early the night before and so the day started well at 04:40 with a cup of tea and a nice quiet stroll to empty Jack who is still on light duties because of a bad cut on his leg. So far, so good.
Regular readers of the NOPs will know that my mate Doc and I have built a new computer designed to take all the waiting out of everything inside the machine (I call it the Flying Machine because that’s what it is intended to be, FM from here on). I haven’t cracked the problem of bandwidth yet! Of course we have had glitches, the main one being our inability to get the dual graphics cards to work together. Never mind the technicalities but suffice it to say that even with the correct drivers we haven’t been able to get them to talk to each other.
I woke yesterday morning convinced that a new and radical approach was needed. After clearing up the mail and traffic on OGFB I put plan Z3 into action and lost all control of the machine. I eventually tracked this down to a glitch in the keyboard which meant that the function keys were reversing their functions in a random manner. By 9am I was back in production without having solved the original problem.
At 11am Doc rolled in announcing that he thought he had a solution. He put it into effect and lost everything, including the ability to boot the system. Ah, the joys of DIY computer building! Eventually we decided that the best thing to do was to replace the new box with the old IBM and for Doc to take the new machine away and do a comprehensive re-working of everything. So, by 3pm I had the old IBM running quietly and competently, albeit slowly, on the new super screen.
So what? How does a small domestic incident like this warrant expenditure of valuable writing time? Well, knowing me, you won’t be surprised to learn that I started a major ponder on the metaphysics of my actions and reactions during the course of the day. (Before you reach for the dictionary to question the use of that word here’s one accepted definition: “The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.”)
I didn’t find anything new, just a re-appraisal of a particular character trait which I believe has served me well for the last 70 years. I am greatly affected when the order fails. This covers a host of circumstances, losing something, erroneous thinking, lack of logic and in this case, a machine that isn’t working to its maximum potential. The only difference between now and fifty years ago is that I have learned to exercise more control over my emotional reactions in these circumstances. Note, not perfect control, that would negate the benefits of being driven to repair the fault, just enough control to stop the emotional response from getting out of control. Following me so far? The saying that covers it is “don’t get mad, get even”.
I talked to daughter Janet in Oz about the problem and she was very supportive. She told me that the logical way I was attacking the problem was exactly how she pursues problems in software. Resisting the ‘poking’ approach and attacking the problem logically by pursuing it down through the various layers of control, testing as you proceed, until in the end you reach the core of the problem and don’t simply attack the symptoms. Isn’t it wonderful to have support like that! My daughters are brilliant!
There is a subsidiary problem, it is quite possible that the re-working of the FM will include a complete re-format resulting in the loss of all data. Not a big problem because I have all the work pre-FM backed up onto DVD and I simply mailed another daughter, Margaret, in Oz and asked her to send me all the articles and NOPs she has received since December the 1st. They arrived this morning and are safely stowed away on my separate data hard drive, before I start anything else I shall back them up. So, one valuable lesson there, off-site backups on a trusted PC works wonderfully. By the way, as I write there are two Brooks articles outstanding, numbers 2 & 4. I’m sure that Margaret will have them but if any of you would like to forward the mails to me including the pics it would be appreciated.
How did I cope eventually? Not bad actually, I allowed my excitement and aggression to drive me on but kept enough control to allow me to function. I suppose that’s the most valuable result of the ponder. When things get bad it’s OK to go into hyper drive, the trick is to retain enough control to allow you to function efficiently. The danger sign is if the emotions start to get in the way of action, you’ve all seen it, ‘headless chicken syndrome’.
One thought struck me this morning when I switched the trusty IBM on and it functioned perfectly and almost silently. The FM has six fans and water cooling and in comparison sounds like a washing machine! In that respect, it is a retrograde step. I came to the conclusion that this is a trade-off, more noise for greater power. That reminds me of every engine I have ever worked on and I managed to accept that so why not with a PC? So yes, it’s all worth it and I look forward to the return of the grey monster when Doc has ripped its guts out and worked his magic. The nice thing is that he is as compulsive as I am and you can bet your bottom dollar that when he returns it we shall have even more power and speed. Bit like old blokes having fast dogs and driving red Ferraris isn’t it.
1 January 2006