Game Day

Wow. Just...wow.
Certainly the most thrilling game of the year.
This was exactly the kind of performance the Chargers needed to put out this week.
The sort of performance they should have put out last week, but that's another blog entry entirely.

There was a lot of speculation flying around about how the Colts, having already earned their spot in the Super Bowl and the home field advantage, would sit out their starters and put in the backup players. Probably a good idea. They had nothing to gain by winning this game except perhaps a perfect 16-0 season, and you don't get a trophy for that.

But the Colts felt differently. Damned if they were going to roll over and let another team beat them at their own house. So they played. Man, did they play.

But the Chargers came to play too, and they played with some fire. They dominated the first half of the game, going into halftime with a 13-0 lead. Colts came back to regain the lead, but the Chargers rallied and knocked them right back down. The Colts quarterback spend a pretty significant portion of the game laying on the ground, thanks to an absolutely amazing Chargers defense. Unfortunately they offset that by a lot of penalties. It made for what was easily the most exciting game i've seen in a long time. Took it right down to the last second.

So. Chargers shook off the lethargy that cost them last week's game. Beat one hell of a good team in their own house. And their hopes for a postseason, albeit slim, remain alive.

Praise Be

I now worship at this altar.

Game Day

Just what is it with the Chargers?
Today's was a game they should have won. Needed to win.
What the hell were they doing?

They came on strong in the first quarter, dominating the clock.
Then...nothing.
They are a damn good team this year, but keep dropping the ball (literally and figuratively) when it counts most. They made silly mistakes at the beginning of the season which put them in a situation now where they simply cannot afford to lose a game if they want to make it to the postseason.

And they still have to face Indianapolis and Denver.

What i'm wondering is "is this as good as it gets?"
The current Charger team is tremendously better than the Chargers who went to the Super Bowl in '95. That team, even when they were winning, looked as though they were doing it accidentally. Like the teams they were playing screwed up rather than the Chargers were making good plays. Just looked like sloppy, haphazard football.

Not this Charger team, though. They look good. Scary good. They look like a team that knows what they're doing and how to get it done. Thing is, it seems they only like to do that when they're under pressure. Beginning of the season....no pressure. Games lost that should have been won. Ok, crunch time. Need to win some games. Came back to win 5 straight and keep postseason hopes alive. Now they play Miami. Should be easy in comparison to the other teams they face in the coming weeks.
No pressure.
Choke.

Now, this is by far the best Charger team i've ever seen play. And they're going to fall short. Again. There is little chance that they are going to get past both the Colts and the Broncos, great teams both. This isn't pessimism, just realism. They do have a chance, but they are going to be really tough games and a loss in either one ends any chance at a postseason.

Are the Chargers cursed?
Is Qualcomm stadium built atop an ancient burial ground and the spirits are pissed?
Sure as hell seems that way sometimes.

$100 Blowjob

And I was on the profitable side of it for once!

My parents called me a while back to tell me that their computer wasn't starting up.
"When you try to turn it on, it just beeps and nothing happens."
Hmm. Beep codes. This ought to be easy to figure out.

Hah!

I had built this computer for them a couple years ago, so the first thing I did when I got there was try to find the motherboard manual. No luck. Probably thrown away or put someplace "safe" long ago. Ok, no big deal. That's what the internet is for. I pop open the case, get the model number off the mobo, hook up my laptop, and.... dead link. Damn. Ok, still no big deal. Google. Hmm...lots of hits, but not really what i'm looking for... ah, here we go.

Find the page on MSI's (the motherboard manufacturer) website that defines the beep codes. It doesn't show this specific model, but maybe they haven't changed them... hmm... "base 64k memory failure". WTF, mate? That's all you have to say?

Undaunted, I go to plan "B". The motherboard came with a diagnostic LED bracket. Normally I don't bother to install these things (though I think after this experience that may change), but it also added some USB ports so I went ahead and installed it when I built the machine. Managed to find the page on MSI's website that decoded that output. And hit another snag. The graphic was in black and white. Didn't say whether the LED's that were shaded black were "on" or "off". Still optimistic, I crawled back under the desk and started up the computer believing I could figure that part out easily enough.

Hah!

The LED's didn't do variations of "on" and "off". They were either green or orange. So. Is black green and white orange? Or the other way around? Going back and forth between the LED's and the website I managed to determine that (most likely) black was green, orange was white, and up was down. Assuming this was correct, it once again pointed to a problem with the memory.

Now that I had two diagnostics pointing to a memory fault, I was ready to believe that that was where the problem was. What to do? I don't have any means of testing memory modules, so I resorted to Standard Field Repair Techniques. Namely, I took it out, blew some dust off of it, and reseated the module.

Started right up.

Now, this was a pretty easy repair. But it could have been, and should have been, a whole lot easier. MSI isn't some rinky-dink little company. They're a serious player. But you wouldn't have known it from the half-assed way their online product support looked. I mean, you make and sell sophisticated electronic equipment in a global marketplace and you can't spring for color graphics?

My stepdad insisted on giving me a c-note for my "work". I was (almost) too embarassed to take it. I've been doing a lot of "tech support" for friends and family lately. I never ask for money. I know people can make a decent living doing this sort of thing, but it just seems so ridiculously simple to me that I can't bring myself to take money for it. Probably why i'd never make it being self-employed.

Game Day

My San Diego Chargers take on the Jokeland Faders once again. Mmmm...fresh meat...

Ok, I don't really get all that worked up about this, it being just a game and all, but a lot of people do and the excitement is a bit catching. So. The Chargers have beaten the Raiders the last four games they've played (I think) and ought to be able to bring that to five tonight.

Go Bolts!!