The Fire Ant Gazette - A Midland, Texas Blog

Power Play, Pt. 2
Category: Tech...
Posted Monday, September 12, 2005 at 09:41 PM [GMT-6]

My new Uninterruptible Power Supply arrived today [UPS delivered my UPS. Ha!] and I've just spent the past hour or so carefully unplugging power cords and rerouting them to accommodate the new box. I tried to do some cable management in the process, but it still resembles a rat's nest (whatever that looks like) behind my desk and utility table.

I also took the opportunity to change the layout of some of my peripherals. The scanner I use most often had been residing on the middle shelf of the utility table, the only available space at the time I installed it. This meant that I couldn't raise the lid completely, making for some off-kilter scans because I couldn't tell if smaller items were aligned properly. I pulled the scanner out, placed the cable modem, router and AirPort base station in its place, and reinstalled the scannner on the top shelf of my desk where those three devices had rested. Now I have full access to the scanner and life is somehow more complete.

I've never had a UPS. It's squat and heavy...all business. I've got six devices plugged into the power+surge protection outlets, and another six plugged into the surge protection only outlets. I can't wait for the next electrical outage. With my luck, we'll probably have clean, reliable power for the next two years. Bummer. Where's a suicidal squirrel when you need him/her?

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Comments

I've never had a UPS

Wow! I can't believe that I'm ahead of Eric the Great on one techno item. I'm on my 2nd UPS....the first worn plumb out. Maybe it's because over on this side of town the power either goes off or "trips" at least once a month.

Posted by: Wallace-Midland, Texas at September 12, 2005 10:08 PM

Yeah, we've never had a problem with power outages until recently, so a UPS wasn't on my list of "must have" peripherals.

Posted by: Eric at September 13, 2005 06:36 AM

You know, when my SECOND little UPS arrived via UPS...I made the same silly joke.

"Hey. The UPS delivered my UPS!"

I thought I was so clever. I wonder how many other millions of people have made that joke? But, like all good jokes, it's still darn funny. There's nothing funnier than an acronym delivering an acronym.

Posted by: Julie at September 13, 2005 12:13 PM

...same silly joke

I thought it was a quite serious joke.

Dang. I was sure I was the first one to come up with that line. I probably stole it from you.

If you'll excuse me now, I'm going to go look for a product named "FedEx."

Posted by: Eric at September 13, 2005 12:17 PM

"Where's a suicidal squirrel when you need him/her?"

If you really want to try out your UPS, I could always FedEx you a couple dozen drunken joyriding teens. Just wind 'em up and let 'em loose on the streets of Midland.

By the next morning, I can guarantee each of them will have flattened a utility pole (maybe even two) along with the occasional pedestrian.

No need to thank me, Eric! We have a bumper crop around here with plenty to spare.

Posted by: Mr. Freen at September 13, 2005 06:14 PM

That's probably not a bad idea. The squirrels have at least some value in that they pick up our low-quality pecan crop.

Posted by: Eric at September 13, 2005 08:23 PM

Don't laugh, squirrels serve the same function around here as well!

In this neck of the woods (literally), the big problem is maple seed "spinners".

Squirrels and chipmunks eat most of seeds, controlling the number of maple seedlings I have to pull up next spring.

It's pure joy to watch God's little seed-eating 'bots scurrying around the yard, ripping open spinners non-stop.

Posted by: Mr. Freen at September 13, 2005 09:59 PM

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