Saturday, April 12, 2008

Why I've Been Absent, Part One

Thank you to all my loyal reader and new visitors for your patience with my progress here at RRTT. Allow me to explain why I haven't been too active lately.

When I first started this blog, it was my goal to post a new entry at least three or four times a week, to give people a taste of what the cab business is like from my point of view. However, I generally had something to say almost every day, and had a lot of fun saying it. Having been in the business for almost ten years, I had a tremendous store of stories and anecdotes, and of course gained new stories all the time.

I don't know about you, but my experience has shown that no matter what my plans are, my life doesn't always follow my plan. Which is okay, because I've learned to enjoy the surprise twist and turns of the human experience. Around about the first of December, 2007 I have run into a whole series of twists and turns. Unfortunately most of them were of the negative variety. Which doesn't worry me, because I love a challenge.

The first challenge was financial, which in some of my earlier posts I discussed how things in the industry were affecting my bottom line, and therefore my wallet. The impact of this challenge on RRTT was I couldn't afford my Internet connection. I attempted to overcome this but writing some articles, copying them to a CD-ROM, and going to Kinko's/Fed-Ex, and renting a computer to upload the articles. This worked for a little while.

And then my computer decided to have a stoke, which I haven't been able to have repaired yet. It should be a simple fix, but alas, it is not. What happened is that there is a small battery in the computer, which powers the real time clock, and apparently the On/Off circuitry. Even when the computer, which is a notebook, has a full battery, or is plugged into AC, it won't start. It's a really good computer, which I got from Fry's Electronics, a reputable company. I've had it for several years, so the warranty has expired, which is unfortunate, because the whole battery issue is the result of what I think is a curious design flaw.

If you're thinking, "Hey Cab Guy, why don't you just replace the damn battery and be done with it, and start posting more stories?" I completely understand. I mean, it's a watch battery costing no more that $10.00 (American). It shouldn't be a problem. And it shouldn't be. But there's that curious design flaw...

You see the battery is easily accessed by lifting the keyboard up. However, rather than being connected to the computer through a socket, it is inside a shrink-wrapped envelope, with power leads that are then plugged into the motherboard. I actually like this design, for two reasons. First, were the battery to leak or corrode, the plastic envelope would protect the computer from damage. Second, because there is no socket, any battery of the proper voltage that would fit inside the computer could be utilized, making replacement fairly simple, even if a battery of the original size couldn't be found.

But here's the rub: the power leads plug into the motherboard deeper inside the chassis, and I haven't been able to figure out how to disassemble it to access the plug-in. I am hesitant to just cut the battery off the leads and splice a new one on, and I can afford to have a techie geek fix the problem.

So I haven't been able to do much writing, either for RRTT or www.DiscoBisquit.blogspot.com, which is very frustrating to me. I have things to say, and I want to say them, just for the satisfaction of knowing that some people want to hear me ramble.

So... just about the time that me finances started to improve, life to an abrupt turn...

To be continued...

I hope to see you out there on the road.

Sincerely,

The Cab Guy

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