But it's a fun obsession. And, probably not an obsession per se... You see my mom's tape drive is this tired old refugee (a 4mm DDS2 drive retired from a server two employers ago) that, as it's approaching it's eleventh birthday is getting cranky and twitchy.

Side note number one: In technology years, at eleven we should be pumping its remains out of the ground as crude oil.

Side note number two: You have a geek for a son, you get tape drives as presents. To heck with flowers, this is data protection we're talking about!

The only spare drive I had kicking around that wasn't total overkill had a black faceplate. This is actually cool — Mom's PC is a newer model black Dell, and her monitor is a black IBM multimedia rig. So, black is good. It goes — computers can be aesthetic too! But, the only drive case I had was computer beige.

I took the case apart yesterday, sanded the cover, and started laying down coats of semi-flat black spray paint. In between each coat there is, of course, more sanding. I think I have enough coats on now. I got the drive mounted, and it only took three tries to get the SCSI ID selector cable plugged in correctly. A little buffing on the case tomorrow and it should be done. After that, a trip to the 'rents to swap drives and do some tests...

And you thought I just did paying gigs!