->  The house I bought, was in a rental dominated
community. Then
-> we went to mostly owner occupied, and now it seems to be rental again. In one
-> house, my father (Next door neighbour.) and I call the crack _____, but at
-> least she is only begging for money for her habit. 

If it's crack she'll soon be stealing and prostituting herself if not
already.

->  WC> I think schools should teach projects requiring students
->  WC> working together for a common goal early on as I suspect this
->  WC> would not only make them a better fit for the job market
->  WC> but more socialized as well.

-> I saw a show about a Japanese school teacher that was spectacular in that
-> regard. When there was a bullying incident, he sat his class down, and pointed
-> out that even the child that wasn't part of the bullying but witnessed it were
-> as guilty for not stopping it. Very endearing this fellow! Mind you, that
-> society is less like to have bullies for parents. 

->  WC> I've two of those old heavy IBM keyboards here with the real
->  WC> tactile keyswitch feedback.
->  WC> You can drop them repeatedly and suffer no damage too.

-> I've been meaning to check the stockpile for one of those. I might have another
-> manufacturer's equivalent. By the weight alone, one could tell?

Not sure about other manufaturers but the IBM's are tanks.

->  WC> Vacuum Tube Volt Meter, very high input impedence for little
->  WC> loading effect.

-> I suspect a Kipp & Zonen here might be the same. How would one
check for the
-> impedance? Meter the meter...         

They use FETs today.     
One job I had the boss had built a regulated supply for a very heavy
current draw and he was shocked that the voltmeter read some 90 volts
instead of the expected 5 volt regulated.

Then I put my Simpson VOM on it ( 600 ohm impedence) and it showed 
rhe expected 5 volts.
A minute leakage current in the microampere range had spiked the
expensive high impedence meter.

I then put a low current 12 volt lamp across the supply and had my boss
test it again and it showed the proper voltage.
That small load swamped the leakage current.

->  WC> Where I got the schematic for a very high voltage PS and a
->  WC> tiny FM wireless mike out of a book they sold.

-> Either you were building a Jacob's ladder, or a radio station? <-;

Neighter, experimental.
It put out a pretty stiff 30k volts at enough current to set cardboard
afire in 1 second.

I was going to use a voltage ladder to boost the voltage to 
300,000 using caps and diodes of the type used by high power Ham 
radio builders but having never properly enclosed the thing in
plexiglass so abandoned it as too dangerous.

I once caught the back EMF from the primary alone and it
was a real wakeup call, I don't want to know what the secondary 
would feel like, likely lethal.

->  -> My last three cases are convertible ATX/AT. I'd still need a
PS though, if
->  -> I picked up an ATX only MB.

->  WC> I've heard Antec  spoken well of.

-> It's been so long, I'd never heard of Antec. Viva la competition.

They've got a 450 watt supply as well as fanless heat sinked PS's
known as their Phantom series.

->  -> They can be spectacular dogs!

->  WC> Mine's black and white with a white blaze down the center of
->  WC> the top of his head through the snout.
->  WC> British Staffordshire Bull Terrier, one of the rarer of the
->  WC> three Pit Bull breeds.

-> Three? I'd meet a Staffordshire - a little broader at the jowls, right? What
-> would the third one be? It's a naturalized American terrier, right? 

The American Staffordshire was bred larger from the British
Staffordshire, bigger broader head and chest as well as up to twice the
weight.
There's also the brindel or red nose Pit for three.

-> Funny, but
-> I never associated Staffordshire and England until I read this.  forehead>

->  ->  WC> trash about 7 times over 13 years.

-> No health troubles to speak of? 

Yeak, spinal injury.
He's om steroids for that and they've been working well the last two
years.
The spinal injuries are from the original owners that wanted
to make him into an attack dog.

I put a very abrupt end to that type of behavior as soon
as he came into my possession.

->  -> always had the run of the house.

->  WC> Spanky's never let loose ( craped or peed) in the house, sick a
-> few times
->  WC> but that's happened to me as well.

-> Who hasn't? Spanky is his nickname then? The Our Gang dog Spot was a Pit, but I
-> suspect you knew that.     

Just old enough to have seen that early B&W show.
That's what the original owners named him from.

->  ->  WC> Not at all like the horror stories you hear about the breed.

->  -> Proved to me, that it's not the bread, it's the owner. O-8

->  WC> Yeah like that idiot skinhead Jimmy Nation up the street and
->  WC> his killer Pit that tried to eat my dog then my hand when I got
->  WC> Spanky free. Spanky was a mess after that but he acted like
->  WC> nothing happened at all. No visable reaction to the attack
->  WC> period, strange.

-> They're just doin' what comes naturally. Their muscle mass alone can get them
-> through many scrapes. 
   
They are not only yough but seem virtually immune to pain.

-> A childhood friend had a Dob-Shepard cross. He was so
-> well exercised, that when he took a stick to the ribcage, it bounced off his
-> muscle/bone, and made the ugliest sliver I'd ever seen. The vet told the owner
-> that his three fingers went in to their limit, and hadn't reached *any* signs
-> of reaching resistance. I thought for sure his lug was punctured, but there was
-> no foam or gurgling. Hardly any blood either for the size of wound, so we just
-> carried him out of the woods, (We were way deep!) for the arranged pick-up.

Spanky had severe punctures from the attack but no foaming, bubbles
or much bleeding at all, I bled a LOT worse.
So guessing no airway or arteries were injured and fearing an old
dog put under anesthetic  might not awake from same after suturing
I treated him at home with peroxide and betadine.
Wounds completely healed in a month but a great deal of surface
hemorraghing persisted for another month and a half.

->  -> ... Multi-tasking: Crashing both hard drives at the same time.

->  WC> That's not funny!

-> Did I mention I was a bit of a brat?  I've had one HD fail
on warranty,
-> and one from an auction-bundled deal. I feel for you, now in more ways than
-> one. )-: Property, is relatively easy to deal with though, and I'm sure
-> something will avail itself. 

I'm eating a very spartan diet so as to save up for a new drive and 
I/O card.
Looking for the second week of April to get them and this time
Windows won't be loaded!!!

I've a hardware modem, hardware sound card and have researched
Linux printers.
Though they require drivers Lexmark is mentioned as having
support from their manufacturer. 
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5