This and that...

[ostarella]

Well, the last few days have been almost totally unproductive. Spending too much time putting out fires and doing other things just to relax (and escape? ) Have come up with ideas for stories (current and future) but God only knows when things will settle down enough for me to actually write. It's so frustrating - RL sucks, sometimes.

Next week may be my last on second shift - I think I'm glad of that. My third shift boss wants me back until the end of September - but second shift needs another person, so I'm not taking any bets on who "wins". I don't like the second shift hours - seems like it's splitting the day in half for some reason. And I definitely like working third as far as personnel - ie, none around me! And getting home in the early morning I can just keep going, then go to bed and get up just in time to go to work. Seems more natural than dropping everything in the middle of the day to go to work.

Never did get my DVD/VCR recorder to work. Must be bad karma or something - the menu wouldn't come up so I couldn't *do* anything. And with the video capture card not being accepted by my pc, I was nowhere fast copying my tapes. But this guy at work showed me some hardware that plugs into the computer as a peripheral, instead of having to be installed - and it's not that expensive (about $50 bucks including shipping), so I may try that route.

I hate technology. Well, not really - just the crap that won't work.

Comments

[beckyblack]

Oh the shift sounds a pain, I know what you mean about working in the middle of the day, doesn't feel right.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

I think the worst thing about second is you have to rush around so to get anything done before getting to work. On third, you've got all day :D

[mossy62.livejournal.com]

I know that working shifts is necessary in many jobs, but I still think it's bad in general. The natural day/night rhythm of the body gets too confused, and changing shifts is even worse.

I don't want to spoil your fun, but be careful with the USB plug-in devices for video capturing. The cheap ones have no processor and will only produce poor quality, because the analog-digital conversion is done in your pc processor. You need a capture device which does the conversion itself to get good results. I've gone the trial-and-error route myself and have my 3rd device now, but that one is good. Unfortunately I can't give you product names, because they will be different in the US. At least in Germany those good ones cost more than 50 quid. Just an advice to save you more trouble.

I don't understand why your capture card isn't working. Doesn't bibbinut have an advice? She's the computer expert here... ;-)

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice - I'll do some checking before I buy anything. Hate to throw even more money out the window. :-(

The capture card apparently is defective - I tried it on another computer with a different system and it still wouldn't fly. Unfortunately, it was a gift from a couple years ago so the chances of even exchanging it are...well, nil.

The things I go through just to get screen caps! LOL