I'm so stupid... Was: Head Cleaners

My favorite: (on-topic, but not computer-related) Car starter motor is really weak, finally just won't turn over. Lights dim and all when I turn the key. OK, $65 new battery. Same symptom. Sigh. Well, battery was old anyway. Must be the starter motor. $75 new starter motor, and some time under the hood. Same symptom. Drat! Now who knows what's broken? Start tracing power wiring, to see what other boxes are in between....after a few minutes of this, the positive lead from the battery *comes off in my hand*, leaving the clamp still attached to the battery post. Doh. Put cable back into its little cable-side clamp, tighten down the nuts, problem solved. The *real* "Doh" is how I managed to change out the battery and still not notice the loose cable! ---- Then there was the sticktiony hard drive I was trying to get to spin up one last time by wobbling (about the spin axis) as it tried to start up, and grabbed by some part that was live. Got maybe a 12V shock on my finger, fried some part of the drive and that was the end of that data. ---- Can I count grounding one of the print-head lines on an inkjet printer with a multi-meter probe and blowing the fuse on the power brick, or is that just SOP? Hate it when I do that. -- - Mark 210-522-6025, page 888-733-0967