As I wrote this, the pieces of my new computer sit in several boxes in my basement.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t go on some angry tirade and break the thing apart. The shipping company didn\u2019t drop a box and shatter the thing. In fact, nothing bad happened.<\/p>\n
I have decided to build our new computer from scratch.<\/p>\n
All of this started when we noticed the ink fading on the small laser printer we bought several years ago. Since ink for those kinds of printers can get a little pricey, we had talked about just getting a newer printer with more capabilities.<\/p>\n
That led to a discussion over buying a new monitor since ours is about the size of a standard washing machine. That led to the natural discussion of just getting an entirely new system.<\/p>\n
Of course, I had mixed feelings about that idea. I love new gadgets, but I hate paying for them. I drool with envy over the details of new computers, but get a little queasy when I look at the prices.<\/p>\n
I figured I would approach this situation slowly and rationally. I would look at special offers from some respected retailers, both in their stores and on their websites. I would research the options and come to the best solution taking our computing needs and finances into account.<\/p>\n
Then I saw a really good deal for a \u201cbarebones\u201d package and just bought it. These packages come with all the necessary components, but require the buyer to assemble everything. I did do some research because the first package I saw sold out before I had a chance to buy it. I just didn\u2019t run it by my wife.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t mind because I usually take care of computer decisions anyway. I got the deal at a pretty good price and promised that the annoying problems our current system has would go away. Well, they will if I build the thing correctly.<\/p>\n
I have never built a computer like this before. I have installed almost all of the individual parts at one point or another in an attempt to upgrade our existing computer, but this is completely different.<\/p>\n
The project will force me to deal with lots of screws and wires and connectors. I\u2019ll have to delicately handle sensitive electronic equipment. I will have responsibility for every problem that crops up.<\/p>\n
For some reason, I really didn\u2019t think of these things until the boxes arrived. I opened them and saw another set of boxes, each holding something which I would need to take care of in order to create a real working computer.<\/p>\n
What have I done?<\/p>\n
I usually had an out when something didn\u2019t work on the computer. I could blame some nameless, faceless person who obviously screwed things up in the factory. Now all that will fall on my shoulders.<\/p>\n
By my estimation, the stress of putting together the computer will turn this into a month-long task. I\u2019ll read every web page I can find on the process and approach each screw as if my life depends on it.<\/p>\n
Because if I mess this up, that might be the case.<\/p>\n
UPDATE: Naturally, the computer did not work when I put it together. I think I traced the problem back to the motherboard – of course the most important part – and am waiting for a new one to arrive. I pray that this one works.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I wrote this, the pieces of my new computer sit in several boxes in my basement. I didn\u2019t go on some angry tirade and break the thing apart. The shipping company didn\u2019t drop a box and shatter the thing….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-computers","wpcat-3-id","wpcat-33-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1208,"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions\/1208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}