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I finally replaced that missing Ruby Moon pin!

Years ago, when I worked at that hell hole Long John Silver's in Alliance, OH, I used to put anime pins on my hat I wore to and from work. At one time, I had a Ruby Moon pin (a character from later Cardcaptor Sakura chapters) I had received from my friend Jay who had gotten it as a candy toy from his local Mitsuwa store. It was one of those things sold in a box with some chocolate crunchy crispies of some sort of candy. There was a considerable set to collect if you could get access to more of the little boxes. I never was able to at the time.

The photo from the eBay listing I bought!

At any rate, one day after leaving work, a wind gust blew my hat off and it slid underneath a customer's car. After I had managed to retrieve it, it was then I noticed my Ruby Moon pin somehow came loose and was now missing. Lacking immediate use of a metal detector, I was resigned to having it lost forever. I had managed to replace 1 or 2 others I lost, but this was a special item not easily found again.

Or so I thought. A couple nights ago or so, I was browsing eBay and I happened to use the search term "Cardcaptor Sakura character pin." A good number of pins showed up, but lo and behold, someone had a complete set of the candy toy CCS pins! And then... my missing Ruby Moon pin! Well, not my exact pin but another one being sold by itself! I waited for it to be relisted with a sensible price and bought it. If I could have afforded it, I might have gone for the complete set, but having this pin again is enough and completes a hole in my collection.

And a while ago, I was even able to fix the broken pins in my collection!

And yet another little room to wait in.

%@$#%^@$^%@#$^*% INTERNET - STOP CHANGING THINGS, YOU TURDS.

So I tried to get on Foosebook to post something to my computer services page, and Foosebook has F-ed it up. Again. My graphics aren't loading and I can't post or comment on anything. F ^ C K. So I get on Blogger to do something and it doesn't load my Blog Dashboard. REALLY??? Goddammit.

LEAVE THINGS ALONE. WHEN THEY WORK, PEOPLE WANT IT TO WORK THE SAME WAY. FOREVER. F^cking web developers.

At any rate, Flash Updater on your desktop should pop up to notify you of an update for Flash Player to version 25 0 0 127. If it loads your default browser, uncheck the option for Google toolbar. Browser toolbars are so 90s.

A friend had fished out a computer box from the garbage somewhere, and it's in relatively good condition. It has a Soyo K7V Dragon Plus motherboard, and 2 ATI graphics cards. So I get to looking and I can find drivers for things on it that run under Windows 98SE and Windows XP. XP might take some work to install and not expire itself but yet activate. 98SE is not a problem but less useful.

The previous owner yanked the HD and memory sticks out of it for some reason, so I've never tried to turn it on. Without RAM, there's nothing to do. I was able to find out the motherboard uses PC1600 to PC2100 speed DDR unbuffered RAM. I have a couple of sticks that are rated above that speed, so I should be able to toss one stick in and see if it turns on. You can put faster RAM in a slower machine, but not the other way around. It'll just run as fast as the motherboard can.

I found drivers for the ATI 9200SE, apparently a Radeon model, that's an 8X AGP version, while the other card is an ATI Rage 128 PCI version. XP and 98SE drivers, good to go.

Audio is an integrated C Media 8738 chipset and drivers were found for that, too. Even the card reader and Ethernet card. And yes, the MB chipset, too.

If I feel capable, I'll at least toss a RAM stick in and see if it turns on and beeps. If it works, I'll spend some money on more RAM in case I want to run Windows XP on it. Otherwise, 512MB for Win98SE would be enough. And a cheap hard drive. Just to see what I can find out.

I got a Dell V313 All in One printer from a relative, and found both 32-bit and 64-bit driver software for it in case I need it. I should see how much ink cartridges cost for it.

A Windows 98 tower given to me some time ago I have no idea if it works, so perhaps I'll find out soon if it does. I need to check my friend's old HD from his XP box, and perhaps I'll finally locate that loose solder trace from his monitor and fix that.

So the cable company did it? WHY?

So the techs get here and I find out one of them shut off my connection without telling me bc some other cust having probs?? Unacceptable. New coax is being hung.

Da Fq?

Internet down for some reason. Was working last night at 3 a.m.! What the heck?

1970s Disney Magazine

During 1975 and ending in 1976, Proctor & Gamble worked a promotion with the Disney Company to offer a "free" Disney Magazine when you bought various P&G cleaning or soap products from month to month. Now, likely starting in May1975 but certainly ending in November / December 1976, only 9 different issues were published. Some issues from 1975 showed up again in 1976 with a different purchase requirement for the free issue.

After some extensive searching online, I have been able to come up with this list:

Disney Magazines

1975 - May - with Bob Hope - free with Downy    same as September 1976 - free with Comet

1975 - June - with Debbie Reynolds - free with Comet     same as October 1976 - free with Mr. Clean or Camay

1975 - July - with Anthony Quinn - free with Spic & Span / Camay <- hard to find

1975 - August - with Lucille Ball - free with Mr. Clean / Safeguard    same as March 1976 - free with Biz / Zest

1975 - September - with Jan Michael Vincent - free with Top Job / Zest <-hard to find

1976 - January - with Rock Hudson - free with Ivory / Top Job

1976 - February - with John Wayne - free with Spic & Span / Safeguard

1976 - April - with Peter Ustinov - free with Bounce

1976 - Nov / Dec - with Groucho Marx - free with Downy

Some of these issues aren't repeated. Of these 9, only 7 are easily found online on various auction sites. So what about October to December 1975 and May to August 1976? So far, no information has been found. It could be those months never had a printed issue. The double month issue at the end of 1976 is usually a sign it was to be the last one.

Why do I even bring up this topic? Somehow one grandmother ended up with the January 1976 issue where they talk about one member of the 1970s edition of the Mickey Mouse Club. Somehow I managed to keep this magazine throughout the years, even though it got stained from something at one point. I've kept it in a plastic magazine sleeve along with a March 1977 issue of Scholastic News Explorer, also mentioning the 1970s MMC on the cover. (Though the story The Peanut Butter Surprise claims it has 20 misspelled words of which I can find only 18.) And to round it off, a reply letter from WUAB TV in Clevenand when I wrote in to complain they cancelled the show.

Maybe I'll get a few more issues. I've always been curious as to what the February 1976 issue would have. Maybe I'll replace my stained copy of January 1976. And maybe someone will confirm if there were more than 9 issues printed with photos to prove it.

Restoring dried up labels that have fallen off

One of the things collectors of vintage videogame cartridges will have to deal with is dried up adhesive and labels falling off. If you're lucky, you still have the labels. If you're smart, you'll keep them, because yes, you can restick them.

This is what collectors have to face as their collections age or as they find them hopefully with the label before it completely falls off. And it's not just Atari 2600 labels - any cartridge with a sticker can have this happen if they used cheap adhesive.

This is what I've used to restick labels that have fallen off. Now, the remover shown isn't what you have to use, it's just what I found for a decent price. You need the little salt shaker (or some other little glass container) to control the fumes from the solvent remover. Apply it with qtips because it will damage the cartridge plastic case - use it sparingly on the plastic. Brush it quickly over the old adhesive a few times. The Qtip will turn a little black - some of the colorant from the plastic is coming out. This is why you have to be careful. Check it with your finger after the remover has dried or evaporated to see if you got it all off.

It's easier to know when you've gotten the old adhesive off the label - it'll leave a yellow stain on the Qtip when you remove it, and the stuff you need to remove is shiny on the label. When you've got enough off, it'll no longer be shiny.

So why do you need to remove the old adhesive? You need a fresh surface for the new stuff to grab onto. If you just leave the old stuff and then add new adhesive, you'll get an uneven look in the label. You don't want that. And it leaves things open for the label to fall off again rather soon.

Now, I chose a spray adhesive that wasn't expensive, didn't need venting because it has no odor, and was easy to clean up. The main problem with resticking a label is this will make it curl up and away from the surface you're applying it on. Try to spray a consistent light coat (as much as the pump spray will allow), and carefully put in place on the cartridge. Hold it down with your fingers as the adhesive begins to dry, paying attention to any lifting of the label. It will take some time, so be patient. I should see if using a blow dryer will speed up things. But it's during this stage you need to make sure it's sticking flat and eventually it will stay down and dry.

Parker Bros. labels tend to come off a lot, as will those labels on Games By Apollo. Atari end labels tend to fall off more often than any other, mainly due to how they're stored or displayed at flea markets.

The skills learned here can be applied to other sticky labels that fall off, like commercially released VHS tapes.

I think (I hope) things are going to be OK

Well, on July 11th, I got yet another "continuing" letter, but no mention of the crap I just went through nor a period of time to expect the next review of crap. On another note, I just got sent a property tax bill sent on behalf of the sheriff's department from the county of West Virginia where the land that we still own the gas and oil rights to is. Apparently, just having an interest in land with these rights counts as owning property and West Virginia has seen fit to tax them. I'm lucky they didn't try to get back taxes for all those previous years they weren't ripping people off over intangible things like mineral rights. If they do try that, I'll let them know where they can go with it.

I also have to deal with getting new tires for the vehicle and or replacing the windshield. One rock hit on the day of that one review and then another later on my way to one appointment.

I've also begun some physical therapy to hopefully get back some of the fitness, stamina, and endurance I've lost in the immediate months and years since Mom passed. Progress has been slow, and I'm hoping nobody gives up on me.

If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck.

Bad Luck: That the appointment I had today happened at all.

Good Luck: My vehicle started and got me there on time.

Unknown Luck: The meeting lasted only 13 minutes and I don't even know how I did or whether the guy who saw me agreed I have Asperger's. I hope I answered him in ways he was looking for.

Bad Luck: A rock hit near dead center in the windshield on my way there, requiring me to get a Windshield Repair Kit.

Bad Luck: My vehicle not wanting to start after several attempts after shopping at Aldi's.

Good Luck: It finally DID start and got me home, and the dealership was able to get me in their schedule. And during their testing, it finally did for the mechanic what it did for me.

Bad Luck: Replacing the starter is a $400+ hit.

Good Luck: They can get the part and do the repair today, and I may get my vehicle back tomorrow.

At least the oil change was free. I was told I won't know for at least 6 weeks after the last appointment how things went.