i actually considered just buying a new monitor...

....but i have a very small space for a monitor on my desk. i want something in the 13-15 inch neighbourhood. the smallest i can find is 20 inches. very frustrating.

on the one hand, i'd rather get something used for environmental reasons. on the other hand, i realize it probably won't last very long. but, if i can't find a small enough monitor new, i'll have no choice but to get a used one.

why is this hard? i haven't had a job in a few years, but you wouldn't expect to walk into an office and see a row of 27 inch monitors. that would just be an absurd waste of space.

i'm a musician. i don't need a big monitor. i need a monitor, but it doesn't have to be big. and, conserving desk space is of far greater importance...

you'd thinks staples, right? no. maybe there's a business direct around here or something...

or i might have to go to detroit.

this lcd screen...

it's a power issue. but, i haven't given up on it yet - or at least not for now. i suppose i'll need to get a new monitor around christmas. sale days are soon, right?

i became convinced that i couldn't get it to power on because it had cooled down, so i cranked the heat in the studio up. this worked. but, the result is that the monitor had it's mind blown out, or something - it's become a fucking vegetable.

i get an immediate flush of white light, followed by a fade to grey and then a black pattern fading back in. it stops when the screen goes all black. and, it's repeatably demonstrable - so long as i don't let the monitor cool down too much. so, wtf?

i am confident the other components are functioning. it seems to be a regulation issue. and i don't know if it will resolve itself or not.

i know that, if it does, then i'll leave the monitor on, no matter how hot it gets.

what if it doesn't come back?

well, the only other monitor that i have is my tv, which should in theory receive a signal. the thing is that i'd need to set it up first, which means i need a monitor out. if it comes back, that will be a high priority. i cannot swap video cards because the studio pc does not have a legacy pci in. so, i will be unable to use that computer.

i spent some time this afternoon backing up my music drive via a sata-to-usb bridge, and now have everything i was working on accessible from the laptop. this should hold me for a few days, worst case. but, i cannot connect either laptop to my sound card (no firewire ports....) and resolving that would be more expensive than a new monitor.

there is only one possible path, and that is to connect the soundcard to the living room pc with the tv as the monitor, which probably means moving it into the recording room. this is the only other firewire connection that i have access to. but, the specs are arguably too weak.

it will be worth a try, at least. if it doesn't work, i'll just have to wait until i get a new monitor.

but, i'm still hoping that it comes back.