My Headset Microphone Crapped Out

One day I'm talkin' clear as day, and the next it's dark as night. I have a Plantronics DSP-500 USB digital headset, and for the most part I've been pretty happy with it. But then the microphone started bugging out. At first, I thought it was some kind of software issue, because I could see the operating system struggling to automatically adjust the sound level. Then, at some point I noticed that when I adjusted the location of the microphone, the sound would cut in and out. That's when I realized that there was a problem with the physical connection of the internal wiring assembly. In other words, fixing this wasn't going to be fun. You'll see. I took a few pictures during the discovery and repair process.

Not fun... but on the bright side, I got it done.

It turned out that the wiring for the microphone had been severed. The folding mechanism that lets you tuck away the microphone into the headset had caught the wire, and eventually cut through most of it. And the wire is not easy to repair. In construction, the wire is very similar to the ones used on the AC adapters for Apple Powerbook G4's that supply Direct Current. Strands of insulated wire are underneath more insulated strands of wire. One set of wires is (+) while the other is (-). It's kind of like the Russian doll of wiring designs. I repaired the wire in my headset, but I'm sure there is a more efficient way of doing it than the method I used. Then again, I don't have the proper tools for this kind of work.

Oil Painting Demonstration

One of the local artist associations held an oil painting demonstration, two nights ago. The demonstrator is a local painter from Rockport, I think. His painting was ok, and it was interesting enough to watch him paint and ask a few questions. But that guy who used to teach people to paint on PBS was more of a showman. A quick search for "PBS afro painter" revealed his name and the name of his show to me. You may remember Bob Ross and his show "The Joy of Painting." It was always worth watching. He just had that kind of talent/personality. Here's a picture from Thursday nights demonstration:

The Sky Is Falling! or at least some dead tree tops

On November 3rd, 2007, hurricane Noel sent the top of a tree crashing down into the driveway. The good news is nobody got hurt, and neither of the cars got damaged. My parents were out of town with their car, so only my brother's car was parked there. Check out the pictures, and read on.

The SAAB is usually parked where the tree top fell, behind my parents van, so that gives you an idea of what might of happened. The evergreens in this area of the world have been dying from some disease, and there are five very large trees (some dead, some dying) in our neighbors yard, right now.

People seam surprised about the spread of the disease that is killing these trees. I'm of the opinion that it's spreading because there haven't been any forest fires in the area that haven't been stopped. Fire is natures way of cleaning up. At least it used to be. Now people inject antibiotics into tree trunks. What can I tell you? It's become an even crazier world than we thought.

Lamest Halloween Ever. Although, the weather was nice.

I'll put it this way. I was back home at around 9:00 p.m. The event planning for this annual celebration in Salem, MA has always been fairly disappointing. People want to come there and enjoy the spectacle of Halloween in Salem, and the city acts as if that's a bad thing. In the past, when I was with my friends, the police would start herding people out of the area by force at 10:00 p.m. I didn't stick around long enough to see what happened this year, but the local news reports said the night ended in violence again. What kind of idiot's are in charge of that city? At some point they should hire some consultants to run the event, because they obviously don't know how to handle it. Oh well. At least the weather was nice, and I didn't have to travel too far.