It may be entirely coincidental, but I blame Damian and the Incident of the Whippy Tail for the death of my beloved 4-port hub, and by extension, the lack of recent blog entries.
It was not a sudden, merciful death. Rather, the hub lingered, sometimes connecting my peripherals, sometimes not. At times the green light of connectedness would glow strongly, promising access to printers and card readers, only to blink out in exhaustion as soon as data flowed. At other times, only a pale glow would appear, ghostly blue and weak, a shadow of its normal self.
I tried what I could. I disconnected the hub, hoping that a vacation would revive its strength. I tried switching cables from port to port, thinking that all it needed was some variety to perk it up. Damian even tried hitting it again with his tail, in a sort of “hair of the dog” homeopathic treatment. All in vain.
This week I finally made the call: the hub was dead. A quick trip to BestBuy secured its replacement, a new, larger, 7-port hub. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Of course, I had to read on a bit before figuring out that a 4-port hub is some computer gizmo. Initially, I thought it might be a piece of your printing press or something… I’m doomed to be forever a techno-dummy, I think.
Anyway, when you got the new 7 port hub, I hope you also picked up a roll of good ol’ duct tape & TAPE THOSE CABLES IN THERE!
Either that, or get some chicken or rabbit wire & build a little Damien-proof cage for the computer gizmos. Of course, that won’t help when he decides to dance across your keyboard. I have no suggestion for that, other than a closed door in between him & the computer, when in use. As you know, my butt has felt the wrath of Damien’s claws – and I can attest to them being quite powerful. Best of luck… Stories like this truly make me appreciate my crabby little cat. She does no damage other than puking on everything & frequent biting of my hands. Skin grows back. 🙂
I already have a cage built for some of the components, using the wire shelves you can get for stacking dishes in closets, but the hub needs to be more accessible so you can plug in things that come and go, like the iPod and digital camera. Not to worry — the new one is stashed under the printer and behind boxes of envelopes. I can reach it if I stretch a lot, but it’s not within reach of the tail.
Damian is working on his puking skills as well. Last night he chose edge of the top of the dresser, so it got the dresser AND the rug. Very talented, our boy.