Monthly Archives: June 2018
Printheads and New Toys . . .
I hit the ground running this morning at work, pretty normal for a Monday, catching up on a lot of catalog and website updates.
Then it was on to a repair job. On my way into work, I got a text that saying that my new printhead had been delivered. It was for our LP2844 thermal printer that we use to print out the shipping labels for our UPS and USPS packages.
Recently our printer started skipping lines and missing characters, so much so that both UPS and USPS were complaining about having problems reading the barcodes. My client was just going to buy a new one for $200-$300 or so. But I said let’s try a new printhead first. And it was only $41.
The black strip in the middle is actually the thermal printhead.
The replacement was pretty easy, and it helped that there was a YouTube video, but it wasn’t as much help as I had hoped. Mainly because the hardest part, actually getting the printhead loose, was pictured like this.
A lot of help that was.
I finally figured out that not only was the view obscured, but he left out a step in the audio too, that a retaining screw had to also be removed.
The replacement would have been a lot easier if they given a little more slack in the two data cables.
There was no reason they couldn’t have. There was plenty of room for the extra length. But finally I got it back together and hooked up.
At first I thought I had another problem because when I tested it, it was just spitting out labels willy-nilly. But at least they looked good with no missing lines. But after I ran the ‘re-gap’ setup, so it would know where the label started and stopped, it was fine.
At this point my client showed me another LP2844 that he said had the same problem. When it happened that time, he just bought a new one. So I got another printhead on order so now we’ll have a spare printer.
Now on to our new toy.
We’ve always had a problem with the volume levels when we play back TV shows recorded on our DirecTV DVR. Some levels are fine, but others are too low. And it can be different between two shows recorded right after each other, and on the same network.
I know it’s not our TV because it did it on our previous one too. DirecTV says they don’t know what the problem is, but did offer to replace our DVR. But then we’d lose all the shows and movies we have stored on it.
So I decided to order us a SoundBar like this.
It’s 25” long, perfect to fit underneath the TV and puts out 40 watts. It has 3 inputs, Audio, Optical, and Bluetooth, and comes with a remote. It had great reviews, and was a really good deal at only $75.
I could have hooked it optically directly to the DVR, but instead decided to connect it to the Optical Output on our 40” Samsung. That way it will work not only on the DVR, but also when we are using the TV with the computer.
And it works great. Now we have more that enough volume, no matter how low the source level is.
Tomorrow it’s back to sorting through stuff to go to the storage room.
Slowly but surely.
Thought for the Day:
Thinking is hard work. And obviously some people are very lazy.
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Fremont Street and A Heart Attack . . .
Since Jan and I just stayed home today, and not much happened, I thought I’d repost a compilation of several of our visits to Las Vegas and Fremon Street.
We drove over to the north end of the Strip to Fremont Street to take in The FremontStreet Experience.
Fremont Street is really what’s left of Old Vegas, before casinos started expanding down the Strip. In the mid 90’s the local merchants and casinos looked for a way to revitalize the area and bring the tourists back.
What they come up with, was a canopy 90 feet high and 1500 feet long, spanning 4 city blocks, Fremont Street became a pedestrian mall with a movie screen / light show overhead.
The canopy / screen is what you see held up by the tree-looking supports.
And this is what it looks like in action.
Along with the video show is a sound system pumping out 550,000 watts of music.
Although the original version used colored incandescent light bulbs, in 2004 the system was upgraded to a display consisting of 12.5 million LED’s.
They have a different show every hour for about 10 minutes. Right now they are running shows with tributes to Don McLean, the Doors, Queen, KISS, and others.
We all agreed that this was the best thing we’d seen in Vegas so far.
Out of the 4 shown every night, our favorite is the one set to Don McLean’s American Pie.
And something new this year is a Zip line Ride running almost 700 feet along under the screen.
You can even ride it during the show. You’re about 80 feet off the ground, traveling about 30 mph.
Jan had decided that despite her somewhat fear of heights she was going to do the zip line that runs down through Fremont Street.
So we got her ticket at the FlightLinez Zip Line store and then took the elevator up to the 5th floor.
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That let’s you walk directly out on the platform. The smaller tower in the front here is the one presently in use. The taller one in the back is the new one coming on line soon. It will be higher, faster, and longer.
Some of you may be wondering why I’m not doing this.
Well, someone has to take the pictures, right. But the real reason is the weight limit of 250 pounds. I could probably squeak by on the limit, but I would have to do it in the nude, and I don’t think that would be an option.
Or a pretty sight for anyone looking up. Just saying.
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The present zip line stops at the platform at the lower side of this photo. The new one will be higher and go all the way to the end of the covered area.
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Here they’re getting Jan and her flight buddy strapped in and ready to go.
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Ready, set, GO.
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And a safe touchdown at the other end.
Jan said she enjoyed it, but that her knees were still shaking a half hour later.
It will be interesting to see if she will do the higher, faster, longer version next time.
The next item on our agenda was a little scary too. The Heart Attack Grill. It’s located at the front of the Fremont Street Experience, right on the Strip. It’s a place we had to try at least once.
They do have a lot of fun with the concept.
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From the disclaimers,
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to the hospital gowns everyone has to wear,
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to the ID bracelets everyone is given. The white one is for the Heart Attack Grill, the blue one is for the Zip Line. Actually I think the gowns would be a good idea at some BBQ rib places I’ve been to.
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Jan got the Single Bypass Burger and the Flatline Fries. I got the Double Bypass with Bacon, but without fries because we were going to share Jan’s order.
The Flatline Fries were really good. They’re sliced and then fried to order. IN LARD.
HMMM! LARD!
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Besides their large selection of alcoholic drinks, the only others are water and Cokes. But the Cokes are the ones from Mexico made with real sugar, and not corn syrup.
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Here’s the burger menu, with one to eight patties, and 5 to 40 strips of bacon (5 per patty).
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And here’s the Octuple Bypass Burger. How do you even eat something like that?
Even my Double I ended up eating with a fork. If I went here again I’d have them leave off the Chili. It’s good but it makes it too messy
Oh, and if you weigh over 350 pounds you can eat here free. Or just eat here a few times until you then weigh over 350, and then eat free from then on.
Thought for the Day:
Who knew retirement would be so exhausting?
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