Thank you, Yotsuba, Bum Cheek City, and eBay.

Three years ago I tried to replace a faulty Logitech MX1000 base station under warranty. I never got my replacement, but I did get a "How Was Our Service?" questionnaire this year, heh. So, for kicks, I dug the mouse out of my bin of computer crap I keep meaning to throw away, but the battery was long dead and wouldn't take a charge anymore. [Edit: I was able to confirm the charger was not at fault thanks to my multimeter. Frickin' love that thing.] Thankfully, swapping in a replacement battery is dead simple.

So the mouse works again. The base station is still fucked up by the same bug that made me want to exchange it in the first place three years ago, though. Why did I bother fixing a mouse I don't use? I guess I just like soldering.

Testing the new CCFL.

It's a miracle. I managed to swap out the CCFL on my IBM Thinkpad T42p notebook computer. I am finally back to full UXGA glory. It was actually relatively easy to install the replacement CCFL. The only scary part was snipping off part of the leads before soldering; I was afraid I had cut them too short. (I don't think you're supposed to trim the leads before installation, but mine were definitely too long.) Taking out the old CCFL was a different matter. Because of the way the original was secured with tape, I completely destroyed the old light while removing it from the screen in November. I fell into despair after that, to tell you the truth. As you can see, it took me weeks to muster enough nerve to install the new one.

My R50 next to my reborn T42p

If your laptop screen dies, I recommend just buying a whole replacement from eBay for $60 if you're not reasonably comfortable with soldering and handling extremely fragile objects. I also definitely introduced some dust particles between the sandwich of layers comprising the LCD monitor while replacing the bulb. I presume I was not diligent enough in ensuring clean conditions. Alas.

28:13:15< Evirus> The art in Marvel Mangaverse isn't that great until the 2006 series.
28:13:16< Divine> I couldn't read something called "Marvel Mangaverse" on principle
28:13:17< Tir_McDohl> Marvel Moeverse

See also ENOZ.

Ah, nuts. So it's not the inverter. I hope replacing the CCFL is easier than it looks. On the other hand, fixing my busted minidisc player was a cinch. Yes, I said minidisc. I'll let you in on a secret: I like using minidisc because Sony's SonicStage software is a colossal piece of garbage and it makes listening to music an incredible pain in the ass. These arduous conditions will enhance your enjoyment of the music because you'll appreciate all the God damn work necessary to get there from here. It's sort of the same deal as with vinyl except on ephemeral media and without the benefit of high fidelity audio. Word.

[Update: IT'S A SONY.]

13:02:27< Evirus> I'm almost out of Haagen Dazs.
13:02:29< rq> strawberry?
13:02:29< Evirus> Yes.
13:02:29< rq> i had some coffee haagen dazs
13:02:29< rq> pretty good
13:02:29< Evirus> Speaking of which, I think I'm going to pioneer the next great blogging advancement: Previews for the upcoming blog entry. There will be more service-service, too.
13:02:31< rq> that doesn't sound that great