WD-40 on the PSU = quiet and happy

Note before continuing: Do not attempt this, it's a really dumb idea. That being said..

First I'll tell the first PSU story then the second.

Story 1.

My Dell Dimension 4400 starting making a racket one day. Turns out it was the power supply fan. I gave the supply a few whacks and the noise stopped. A couple weeks later the fan started screeching again. No matter how many times I whacked it the noise would come right back. "This has got to be fixed" I sez to myself so I put my brain to work. "Okay, most fans operate using a ball bearing. It's most likely dried out which is what's causing the noise. I wonder if WD-40 will fix this."

I turned the computer off, unplugged the power, grabbed the WD-40 and gave the PSU fan a few quick sprays. Then I turned the computer back on, no luck. Same noise.. I think to myself "The fan probably has to be moving for the lubricant to take effect."

Thinking of the worst possible scenario, I thought "Okay, if I spray moisture into a live power supply, there's the possibility this thing could literally snap, fry and possibly trip a circuit breaker in the house. I could also fry my motherboard and all the peripherals on the computer." But that damn noise was so annoying. "Fuggit", I said. So I sprayed the WD-40 into the PSU fan, then used some "dust removal spray" to get the fan blades turning so the lubricant could get into the bearing.

It worked. The noise hasn't returned since and the PSU fan blows air just as it should to keep the unit cool.

Story 2.

Today my pop's computer started to make the same noise with his PSU. I repeated suit and just gave his PSU fan some quick sprays with WD-40. Worked like a charm.

Granted, when you do this your computer stinks of WD-40 for about an hour, but the smell goes away after a while.

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Going to state this again: DO NOT attempt this. It is a really, really BAD idea. But it does work. (grin)

What a difference a day makes

The horrible fog yesterday was replaced with rain today. Check out the difference between the pictures. Only one day apart, taken around the same time of day.

Fog

Today's fog was absolutely brutal.

Visibility on the drive home today was less than 15 feet near my house.

New bass guitar

It was finally time to retire my old cheap Epiphone P-Bass guitar and buy a new cheap bass guitar. The only reason I own an electric bass is to lay down my own bass tracks in my home recording studio - so needless to say it does not have to be an expensive instrument.

A friend is visiting for a few days so we piled in the car and headed off to Warwick RI Guitar Center. The last time I went there (December 2004) I saw some cheap new basses there and hoped there would be some left after the Christmas season.

Fortune smiles: There were some. I grabbed a Yamaha RBX170-DBM off the rack, plugged it in and started thumbing it a bit. Sounded good. I bought it. Price: $180.00 after tax.

This is the first new bass guitar I've bought.. ever. My previous bass guitar was bought by my pop about twelve years ago - which just goes to show you how long ago it was I acquired one.

Emma dies

My cat, Emma, after being here since 1992-ish has passed away. A lot of my friends knew her.

Her reason for departure is kidney failure (I think). She was drinking a lot of water but never absorbed it.

The failure in her system seemed to happen suddenly... but what can you expect from an almost 13-year-old cat.

I'm sad, but.. at least she isn't suffering any longer. Her last few weeks must not have been good. I tried in my best effort to make her comfortable and can only hope it eased her pain a little bit.