Cleaning the Computer Fan

Last week, I decided it was time to take my laptop apart and clean out the computer fan. It had been running hot and would shut down from time to time because it was too hot. I had done this one other time and ended up with a couple of screws left over. I went on line with Marcia's laptop and got up a video of the process. Then I set up at the table and began.

Mother board on left, fan on right

Fan on left, mother board at top

Disk drive in middle, mother board bottom

The mess

I was able to get the fan out and take it apart to remove the dust bunnies inside that were blocking the flow of air. I also cleaned out other dust that had accumulated inside the case. I put it all back together and only had 6 screws left over. Oh well, it all works fine and runs cool.

Tree Day at Cumberland Village

Above All Trees was here at the village on Monday, January 20. They took out a few trees and trimmed up a bunch. Here are a few pictures I took that day.

Last Words

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...." Last words of Gen. John Sedgwick at Spotsylvania (1864)

The plaque reads:

• Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Corps, was one of the most popular senior officers in the Army of the Potomac. On the morning of May 9, 1864, Sedgwick arrived here to direct some minor redeployment of his troops. Ignoring warnings from his chief-of-staff, Sedgwick stalked about admonishing his men to cease worrying about the occasional fire of Confederate sharpshooters concealed in the woodline far to your front. "I am ashamed of you dodging that way, " scoffed Sedgwick. "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Shortly thereafter, a bullet slammed into the general's face, killing him almost instantly.

• The shot that killed John Sedgwick, the highest-ranking Northern officer to die on a Civil War battlefield, came from a Whitworth rifle at a distance of more than 500 yards. The identity of the marksman who fired the fatal shot remains a mystery, although at least five Confederate soldiers later claimed responsibility.

For more, see:
http://www.civilwarbattlefields.us/spotsylvania/sedgwick.html

Genuine Diffee Doodle Reprint

Today, I received in the mail my genuine Diffee Doodle Reprint. I signed up for The Diffeeville Dispatch, the newsletter of Matt Diffee, an artist and writer who grew up in Texas and moved to New York.  His cartoons have been published in The New Yorker among other publications. I was one of the early subscribers to the newsletter, and the draw was that I would get a free hand drawn doodle. I am still waiting on mine. Evidently, even though I thought I got in on the ground floor, I was way down the line. He is up to 443 according to today's Facebook page. I think I am in the 600s. Anyway, he's got some funny stuff. You should check him out.

Tree Clean Up

November 6, 2014

All Above Trees came and cut down the Bradford pear tree. It took them about an hour and a half to get it down and fed through the chipper. They did a pretty good job.

Downed Tree

On November 1 we had the big snow that was gone by the afternoon. Over night we had winds up to 50 mph and awoke to our Bradford pear tree having lost a large branch.

These trees are notorious for having their limbs/branches stripped by wind and ice. This one evidently has a history of this.

It took out the fence when it fell. The fence was in ill repair anyhow. I had tacked the barbed wire up on deteriorating posts mostly for show. I had planned to replace the posts that were rotting in the ground, but SWMBO discouraged me from that, and now I am glad.

Cabbage

We put out three cabbages for decorative effect. They are doing quite well.