Maine's Own Off-Topic Thread! (calculator, bill, install)

[Elcarim]

Ok, I said we don't ever see fall colors here. So, I was wrong. This is the extent of it. Most of the leaves are gone, the remaining majority are brown, but there are about 7 red ones on this lucky tree!!!

Enjoy the glory of a Texas fall......

[Elcarim]

Found another one! Note the poor little shriveled up brown one next to it - those are much more abundant here.

[moughie]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

changing the subject to a happier one... the weather in Maine today is calling for nicer /sunnier/ warmer than here. Should I go up just for the day????

Go for it!!

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

I've heard you can remove the balls and blow on em'...removes the dust build up.

Mouse balls...depends on whether your mouse has one or not. Optical mice do not have them- if your mouse has a red light underneath it is an optical mouse and has no ball or rollers to clean.

Sometimes the cable, where it plugs into the computer can get loose and the mouse will stop working (both optical and ball-type mice). If it is a USB cable you can just unplug it and re-plug it and it may start working again. If it is a P/S-2 connector (round with several pins and a square-ish key inside), then shut down the machine, unplug the connector then plug it back in again. Re-boot the machine and see if it works now.

If you have a ball-type mouse and the cursor movement has become ERRATIC (but it moves sometimes or only in one direction), the plate on the bottom should rotate and let the ball come out. Wash the ball with some dish detergent, rinse and let dry. While the ball is drying, look inside the hole in the bottom of the mouse- you will see two thin roller axles and a spring-loaded rubber wheel. These will probably have a bunch of crud on them, maybe some hair rolled up in them. Use a fingernail and/or small tweezers to scrape the crud off and pull the hair out. Shake and blow to get the loosened crud out. Re-assemble and it should work again.

Sometimes, mice just "die". It could be a driver issue (or, more rarely a virus) but mice are cheap. Buy a new one and see if it works. If it does, then your mouse was dead. If that doesn't fix it then you have a more complicated troubleshooting situation to deal with, but you will have an extra mouse for when the original finally does die...and it probably will, eventually (especially if you have small children or older ones that play games that use the mouse for targeting).

Mice are too cheap to bother fixing them, in most cases.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Found another one! Note the poor little shriveled up brown one next to it - those are much more abundant here.

I'm sorry, you're so right. That definitely falls under the 'pathetic' catagory when it comes to foliage.
If it makes you feel any better, I'll go snap a quick one of an old dried up withered coconut on the ground?

[island mermaid]

If you have a ball-type mouse and the cursor movement has become ERRATIC (but it moves sometimes or only in one direction), the plate on the bottom should rotate and let the ball come out. Wash the ball with some dish detergent, rinse and let dry. While the ball is drying, look inside the hole in the bottom of the mouse- you will see two thin roller axles and a spring-loaded rubber wheel. These will probably have a bunch of crud on them, maybe some hair rolled up in them. Use a fingernail and/or small tweezers to scrape the crud off and pull the hair out. Shake and blow to get the loosened crud out. Re-assemble and it should work again.

*NOTE* It's very hard to get the mouse to hold still long enough to perform this type of surgery. Mice are very afraid of tweezers, I suggest some sort of pre-op anesthesia.
(sorry Zy, couldn't resist)

[DavidoftheNorth]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Found another one! Note the poor little shriveled up brown one next to it - those are much more abundant here.

So, you have marijuana in Texas?

[Elcarim]

Originally Posted by DavidoftheNorth

So, you have marijuana in Texas?

Actually, yes. An abundance if you look in the right places. All for medicinal use, of course!

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

Use a fingernail and/or small tweezers to scrape the crud off and pull the hair out. Shake and blow to get the loosened crud out.

Also a NEW pencil eraser is great for cleaning crud off the rollers and will not damage them.

[Elcarim]

Good to see you, Zymer! I was wondering about you.