I called up Rogers today. Cliffs of what I said:
Yo, I'm not satisfied with my phone plan.
Why do I have to pay so damn much?
Wind Mobile over there is looking mighty tempting.
And after several minutes of talking and subtle convincing, Rogers hands over a retention plan to prevent their customer from leaving. My phone plan is 10 bucks cheaper per month and has pretty much unlimited everything. It even includes the overpriced caller ID service (which I didn't have beforehand) for free! No more worries.
That's how it's done. I'm gonna pat myself on the back. Next up, lets see what I can squeeze out of Telus for our unsatisfactory TV/ Internet service.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
fixin shit
I am scrounging the house for things to sell through Craigslist and make some extra buck. I have built a nice list of relatively high-value items to sell, and I will update once I'm rolling in money (lol).
One of the items on the list is 32 inch flatscreen LCD HDTV, which has been replaced in our house for a fancy schmancy Samsung 42 or so incher. The reason it was replaced was because the power kept cutting off after several minutes of use.
Today, I looked into this issue to diagnose exactly what the problem was and see if it's fixable so that I may (or may not) sell it.
What happens exactly when the screen goes off after the couple of minutes of use?
I originally thought that it was the backlight, but just the fact that the TV turns on most of the time crosses that off the list. Inverter? This also seemed likely, but the audio also cuts off, leaving the final verdict to be the power supply board on this thing. I took out about a billion screws to take a look at the innards.
And the issue was quite glaring. Thanks to YouTube TV repair videos that explained the kinds of issues that could form on these boards, I was easily able to spot the busted/busting capacitors. In this image, you can make out the bulging upper caps of 3 capacitors.
One of the items on the list is 32 inch flatscreen LCD HDTV, which has been replaced in our house for a fancy schmancy Samsung 42 or so incher. The reason it was replaced was because the power kept cutting off after several minutes of use.
Today, I looked into this issue to diagnose exactly what the problem was and see if it's fixable so that I may (or may not) sell it.
What happens exactly when the screen goes off after the couple of minutes of use?
I originally thought that it was the backlight, but just the fact that the TV turns on most of the time crosses that off the list. Inverter? This also seemed likely, but the audio also cuts off, leaving the final verdict to be the power supply board on this thing. I took out about a billion screws to take a look at the innards.
And the issue was quite glaring. Thanks to YouTube TV repair videos that explained the kinds of issues that could form on these boards, I was easily able to spot the busted/busting capacitors. In this image, you can make out the bulging upper caps of 3 capacitors.
Bam. This thing was fixable, and I wouldn't need to sell it as merely spare parts or junk. So far I just made a simple schematic of where all the parts belong, detached the power board, and located the capacitor pins to solder off. Tomorrow, my brother will look for 2200 microfarad capacitors from his school's electronics class that I can hopefully use as replacements here. Can't wait to get this baby in full working condition again.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
first month of school
Things are going smoothly.
Phil 220: Symbolic logic, already learned 90% of the content in CPSC 121
Math 220: Mathematical proofs, seem to have learned 50% or more of the content in CPSC 121
Those are 2 courses I can get by relatively easily, leaving me to focus mostly on my differential equations class Math 215, Stat 302, and CPSC 210. All quiet on the western front here, no sign of storms approaching either.
Because there's no one thing that has been on my mind recently, but here's one that's been bugging me for a bit. Warning, it's a bit depressing.
A phone call arrived 1 in the morning. I picked it up, then handed it to my mom after the man spoke in Korean. Of course only someone from there would call at this time. I tried to go back to sleep right away, but I couldn't knowing that it was the call announcing that my uncle (mom's side) has passed away from kidney cancer. I heard my mom sobbing a bit and then returning to sleep.
She never really liked her brother, I don't think any of her sisters did either. I only recall meeting him twice in my non-toddler life. Nevertheless, family is family. She wasn't able to see her mom during her death many many years ago (we were in Canada, didn't have the cash for plane tickets then). Apparently my grandma died saying my mom's name. It still haunts her occasionally.
She made a brief mention of the news during breakfast, and never referred to it again. She still packed everybody their lunches before heading out to work at 7 in the morning.
Phil 220: Symbolic logic, already learned 90% of the content in CPSC 121
Math 220: Mathematical proofs, seem to have learned 50% or more of the content in CPSC 121
Those are 2 courses I can get by relatively easily, leaving me to focus mostly on my differential equations class Math 215, Stat 302, and CPSC 210. All quiet on the western front here, no sign of storms approaching either.
Because there's no one thing that has been on my mind recently, but here's one that's been bugging me for a bit. Warning, it's a bit depressing.
A phone call arrived 1 in the morning. I picked it up, then handed it to my mom after the man spoke in Korean. Of course only someone from there would call at this time. I tried to go back to sleep right away, but I couldn't knowing that it was the call announcing that my uncle (mom's side) has passed away from kidney cancer. I heard my mom sobbing a bit and then returning to sleep.
She never really liked her brother, I don't think any of her sisters did either. I only recall meeting him twice in my non-toddler life. Nevertheless, family is family. She wasn't able to see her mom during her death many many years ago (we were in Canada, didn't have the cash for plane tickets then). Apparently my grandma died saying my mom's name. It still haunts her occasionally.
She made a brief mention of the news during breakfast, and never referred to it again. She still packed everybody their lunches before heading out to work at 7 in the morning.
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