Technology Woes Continue

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for some of my tech items. First, the treadmill died (twice actually). Now, my gaming headset (mic and headhones) for my PC has crapped out.

I was in the middle of an America’s Army game, discussing strategy with my 158th clanmates, when the microphone stopped working. I tried several things, including several reboots, but it remains dead. The fact it was working when it died, also lends some credence to it giving up the ghost. The headphones part is still working just fine.

A headset and microphone is an integral part of a team based strategy/shooter game. I didnt realize how second nature it had become in game until I was forced to do without. While I could still hear what everyone else was doing and plotting, I couldnt communicate back. It was very frustrating. So much so, in fact, that I ended up quiting for the night a short while later. Normally, I would have had another 4 hours of gaming in me.

It took me all of another 5 minutes to get online and order a replacement headset. it’s not an expensive item, about $40, but its just another one of those little things that adds up.

Even worse, my computer seems to be getting slower and less reliable. Boot time easily exceeds five minutes now. I went through a period of about a month about six months ago where the computer was almost unuseable and having strange intermittent errors quite frequently. It took many hours of troubleshooting and tender loving care to get it back to a respectable working condition. The computer seems to slipping towards that abyss once again. The box is almost 4 years old, so it definitely doesnt owe me any money. I had been hoping to hold out until next March to get a new one, but not sure it will make it that long. I have my fingers crossed.