Sun 29 January 2006 - The new desks
The old desk, to my utter surprise, reached $137.50 on eBay. It was bought by a guy from a few suburbs away for his daughter to use for studying. She seemed happy, he seemed happy, and I certainly was. Win-win. That’s why I like eBay.
He came to pick it up on Australia Day. I disassembled it with my newly purchased drill/driver, and in the heat, we managed to load it into, and on top of, his stationwagon. He tied it up with coaxial cable (! — he said he had way too much of it) and gingerly set off down the road.
I grabbed a beer and one of the new desks out and set it up. The second desk waited until today, when the kids helped.
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It all looks heaps better than before. The new desks look snazzier, and more importantly they fit the space much better.
PS. Yes, I know I need to do something about the curtains…
January 30th, 2006 at 10:23am
Why did you put “No reserve” in the title? eBay doesn’t allow for reserves any more, except for Motor vehicles. (cars, trucks, buses).
Is that computer on the desk a HP by any chance? I thought someone like you would have either built one, or bought a custom built one, not a HP from Myer or Harvey Norman or somewhere.
January 30th, 2006 at 11:10am
Like any good computer geek, you put the computer together on the first desk before starting building the second desk, I approve
January 30th, 2006 at 12:20pm
Oh, I thought you could still do Reserve prices. Ah well, it didn’t hurt.
I don’t have the energy (or the skills — I’m more of a software person than a hardware person) to build a machine myself. The machine on the left is a custom-ordered one bought in May last year from a smallish mob called Landmark Computers, in LaTrobe Street. The one on the right is a couple of years old, built for me by a friend, though it uses some parts (drives, and a video card) from much older computers.
January 30th, 2006 at 1:44pm
That’s so cool!
January 30th, 2006 at 5:08pm
A great production; an explanation of the method would be highly geekrantable to this luddite.
Is there any way of varying the speed; it seems to be determined by CPU utilisation, with a slowing when it’s doing other things.
BTW was it just coincidence two of you happened to be wearing similar ‘uniform’ - London Underground T-shirts?
January 31st, 2006 at 4:30am
Were the photos taken automatically at regular intervals?
January 31st, 2006 at 7:32am
Yes - the curtains. But the wires Daniel! you need to do something about them too. I have a “thing” about wires…
January 31st, 2006 at 5:35pm
Peter and Konrad, I’ve written about how I did this here. Yes, co-incidence on the shirts.
Nancy, but these aren’t wires. They’re cables!
So, you have a thing about them… which means I need to do something about them?? Actually I’m planning to go in with cable ties etc and tidy them up when the setup is finalised.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:13pm
Awww, I thought it was all done in one and half to two hours. I feel cheated. I should have looked at the window. Was the mention of curtains a hint?
If you have a few wires going in the same direction, Ikea has, or used to, some flexible tubing that has a full length cut. You slip the wires into the tube and it tidys them up quite well.
February 16th, 2006 at 8:56pm
My family and I have, also, purchased computers, equipment and service from this Landmarky. They have always been good to deal with. Their margins are a happy balance between product that is too expensive and product that they can’t afford to sort out when it goes wrong. Treat them well and they treat you well.