Knee injury getting better...via rooster!

Hey all!

Have been a bit quiet for a while. Sorry. Lots to do. Lots on my mind. Anyway, the knee has still been bothering me some, so at the last ortho visit, the doc recommended trying something called Suparts (forgive spelling) injection therapy. This is apparently something they make from rooster comb! Weird, right?! It is supposed to act as a "filler" in the knee joint, and help it heal and relieve pain on its own, with no cortisone or pain killer of any kind actually in it. I have a fellow drink slinger friend of mine, who had similar knee problems/surgery and had to do these treatments as well. It's a five injection treatment...one each week for five weeks. Have had two of the five now, and I am already feeling the difference, it seems. Not bothering me much at all yesterday or today. So, hopefully, by the end of treatment, I'll not need the occasional (yeah, right) Lortab to keep functioning at work. LOL.

On another note, I've been working again on my website/e-store idea. I've got a nice design made, and some content. Still lots to do, and some financing the project issues to deal with, but hopefully, very soon, my idea shall be given life. It will be a site/store devoted to the marketing and sale of high-end gaming computers. It's "big draw" will be, I think, a special line of LAN party type, very portable, yet powerful, machines designed for people like us who get together with our PCs and rock out on some serious gaming. Anyway, it's an idea that I'm proud of, and look forward to seeing what it'll do. When it launches, I'll post it here, and ask Dock over at Cybersouth to do the same, if he doesn't mind. Be on the lookout for SwinTech Designs...coming soon to the world wide web.

God bless and geek on!

HP...you no look so good to me

Ok, client brings me a laptop. Nice looking, HP dv7-1245dx (for specifics). Blank screen, seems to be running, but nothing on screen. LEDs near the caps lock and number lock keys flash four times, stop, flash four times, etc. Upon further investigation, this four flash code indicates video card failure. Uh-oh...motherboard replacement. Upon even further investigation, at an HP website forum, mind you, I find many, many folks with the same problem. Various complaints, ranging from HP saying they'll fix it for $390-$500 (after the bloomin' laptop was maybe $700 to start with), to some vowing never to buy HP products again for the above mentioned reason. This video problem apparently stems from the motherboards themselves, which were built by nVidia. Class action lawsuit dictated that nVidia was liable and had to foot the bill to replace the motherboards...for a time...which is now over. Man, just doesn't say much for a company I thought was a fairly stand-up outfit.

Now, my poor client, whom I have to call and tell this to, has this as a "best case scenario". The cheapest replacement mobo from a reputable place is gonna cost him $150 and about $200 for me to replace it. That's $350, folks. And that's the best option! Doubt the repair will be happening. Looks like he may have himself a $700 paperweight or doorstop.

Think I'll buy Toshiba next time...

God bless and geek on (hopefully NOT on an HP laptop)