As some of you may know, one of my monitors blew up last Tuesday night (July 23, 2024). Since then, I’ve done about everything I can do to get a second monitor on this machine. It’s all failed. Let’s take a look at what I tried, why it failed, what I ended up doing, and why that almost failed.
What Happened to the Monitor?
I run two monitors, and I’ve run two monitors for 10 years. In 2020, I upgraded the whole system. I got a new workstation, versus a standard computer. It was refurbished, so perfectly affordable. And I bought 2 22” refurbished monitors. Prior to this, I was using 2 19” monitors. Now, one of these monitors has been jinky since the beginning. However, I have to keep working. I didn’t have time to send it back. Three and a half years later, that monitor was awfully red when I first started it in the morning. This went on for a couple weeks, so, I know it’s dying. But I’m going to get every bit of life out of that monitor.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024, it started flickering. That’s never a good sign. Then, it started running lines through the whole monitor. This is worse than if the monitor would have just faded out or the color distorted. To see if this was a driver problem, I went ahead and threw in all the updates that were available. After all, it’s not like I can work like this, so now I have time to install updates. My chrome was out of date too, but I was holding off on that because there was a Chrome scam issue a few months back. The update file was literally corrupted with malware, and that’s what they were sending out for the upgrade, so I wasn’t too hot to get that right away.
Unfortunately, it was not a driver or software issue. The problems persisted. The monitor was blowing a capacitor. I could hear it. I had to unplug it. It was giving me eyestrain and a headache.
Then, I started looking for my backup monitor. I never found it. I have no idea what I did with it. There’s a good chance that it was just in the way, in the way, in the way, in the way, in the way, and I finally got sick and tired of it and threw it out. Or maybe I gave it away. Who the hell knows, but it’s not here.
I Have a Spare TV!
Once I gave up on the original monitor and finding the spare monitor, I started looking at the spare TV. This TV doesn’t have any sound. It blew out a while back. This is a first gen, flat screen TV that weighs a good 50 pounds. In order to see if it’ll work, because a monitor doesn’t need sound, I needed to find cables and adapters. It’s got a VGA port, but I have DVI slots in the computer. I find a DVI to VGA adaptor, but I can’t get the plug into my battery backup. Turns out that one plug is just off. I finally get that connected. My computer sees it (after a reboot). It’s fine. That’s Wednesday afternoon. I get two articles done that absolutely have to be done that day. I’m already behind. The TV seems like it’s going to work. But since this is an old gen, it’s got a black grid on it. You’d never notice it if you’re just watching TV from a distance, but up close, you can see those gridlines. It’s also blurry, and nothing I do in the settings makes it any better. It just is what it is, but if it gets me through the rest of the week, fine.
I wake up Thursday morning, turn the TV on, do some more work, and by 7PM, this thing is HOT. It feels like a space heater, it’s so hot. Ten more degrees, and it’d cause burns. I’ve got to unplug it. The computer is worth a fortune. The backup battery is worth a fortune. I can’t have this thing connected. Now, I’m back down to one monitor. Fanfuckingtastic, because that’s not working. I can’t research. I can’t write. I can’t do audio. All of it is a nightmare because it’s all FLIPPY, FLIPPY, FLIPPY!!!! Everything is on top of everything. If I’m writing, I can’t see the research. If I’m researching, I can’t see the writing. It’s NOT working, and my productivity has gone down 75%. It is taking me FOREVER to get anything done, and Little Bitey 22 is just straight up on hold. Fuck. My. Life.
Last Ditch Effort – Split the Screen
In a last ditch effort, I split the screen of the 1 22” monitor I have. One side is writing. One side is research. This is also awful, but I at least I can get something done. It’s awful because instead of just shrinking everything, the software now scales it and move modules. This was the solution to making websites and software work on various different sizes of screens. That part of it works fine. That means you can view the same website on your computer, laptop, tablet and phone, but it ONLY works if you’re using that whole screen. When you split a full-sized monitor with two windows, it really isn’t effective. Instead of shrinking everything down to fit, it moves modules, creates sandwich menus and bottom scrollers and becomes a real challenge to navigate. This is also awful, but it’s better than FLIPPY FLIPPY FLIPPY!
I Have a LOT of Work to Get Done
To make matters even worse, I’m busier than I’ve been in a year and a half. I do not know what happened, but all of a sudden I’m slammed like its 2022, and first on this list is a real estate article with 1,000 keywords. I’m not even joking. This son of a bitch has 1,000 keywords, and their core keywords equal between 300 and 350. It’s a 3,000 word article, so roughly 1/3rd of this thing is going to be keywords, if you used them all. There’s no fucking way. 200 to 300 usually end up getting pasted to the bottom because there’s no fucking way. And here’s the kicker. Rather than just putting real estate 1-8, they also include real estate agents, agents, agent, estate, estate, real and reals, which is not even a fucking word. Each one of those is a separate keyword, so you can’t knock off 4 instances by putting “real estate agent” in once. But I’ve done 30 of these in the last year. This one just happens to be really really bad. It’s so bad that it takes me 2.5 days to do. The money for it doesn’t cover 2.5 days, but now I need a new monitor ASAP. So, I spend the time to get this mother fucker done. It takes a day to write it, a day to fight their keywords and half a day to grammar check it and plag check it. These, I run through 2 different plagiarism checkers. I run it through a normal one and one that checks for partial plagiarism. The reason I do that is because their headers trigger plagiarism in the platform that I’m using. Their keywords trigger plagiarism in the platform that I’m using, and it does this because every article is the same. Same headers. Same keywords, and to make things even more fun, the platform checks for plagiarism in articles I’ve already written for the client, so god forbid, I accidentally write the same exact sentence in two different articles. It’s a plagiarism nightmare, luckily, the instructions say that I can change the headers. I finally get that son of a bitch done and submit it. Now, keep in mind that if this were really 2022, they could take that article and shove it up their asses, but that’s not the situation in the freelancing industry today. If you can remotely do the article, you more or less have to write it. It’s quite likely that there’s nothing to replace it.
So, I get that done. I get a few more articles done. Saturday rolls around and my brother and his wife come by. Do I want to go target shooting? Ya know. Yes, I do. Normally, I say no to everything, but I had just had it by this point. The rest of the shit in my queues can wait. So, I took a break and got back to it Saturday night.
Sunday – Back at It
Sunday, I finish another article and start a second one. These are nowhere near as bad as that real estate article. I’m also looking for my money. I have a private client that should have paid by now, and that would buy the new monitors I need. But I don’t have it. I check the mail, and I don’t have it. It’s not coming electronically. It’s not in my mail box, but if all this stuff goes through, I’m fine. I can pay rent and my cell phone and buy those monitors. It’s not a huge deal.
Figuring Out the Monitor Order
At this point, I’ve started trying to figure out this monitor order. I need two monitors. Remember, I no longer have a backup, and I have to have at least two working monitors at all times. This experience has proven that. And you know what, I should also get a 3-way monitor splitter. If I have to do this, I might as well get that third monitor that I really need. Yes folks, for the past 6 months or so even two monitors has not been enough, but I’ve been dealing with it. What I really need is 3 monitors, and now, I’m down to one, so it’s just that bad.
Best Buy
I start off with Best Buy, looking for a 3 to 1 HDMI or DVI splitter. I really don’t care which. I have lots and lots and lots of adapters and cables. I can’t find either one. They don’t have them. The monitors are on sale though. I can get 2 22” for $70 a piece. But without that splitter, I’d still need to order from Amazon and deal with their suddenly very slow shipping and possibly paying to ship that cable. By contrast, Best Buy can get me those monitors next day. It’s too bad they didn’t have that cable.
Target
Target has some stuff, but I don’t like the prices. On to Amazon. I should be able to find $10 splitters.
Amazon
I head on over to Amazon. This is always my last choice because the shipping has gone from next day or two days to 1 or 2 weeks. It’s really really slow. So slow that it’s no longer worth it to get the lower prices or potentially lower prices. Their prices have really gotten high over the last year or two. I find an HDMI 3 way splitter. It’s $10. Perfect. It’s a little weird though, but perfectly in my price range. Remember, I’m still waiting on money, and rent is coming due, so I’m really limited in what I can spend.
I find some monitors. $59.99. Two is $119. the reviews are NOT great, but they are within my price range. I may hate these. I may need to replace them in 6 months, according to the reviews, but the whole cart total is $130. That’s perfectly affordable, if I get paid for everything I did last week and over the weekend.
Monday Morning – I’ve now been 6 Days Without a Second Monitor.
I’m on the very last order in my queue. It’s all legal. It’s going to run long, but this client is a gem. They don’t pay for extra words, but they’re very appreciative of their writers. That goes a long way. So, I’m working on that, and it’s a bear. It’s very very legal. It gets into employment law. Yes, I have that background in both degrees and writing experience, but I don’t do this type of stuff very often, so it’s challenging. Interesting but challenging.
I get an email notification on my watch as I’m working on this. I’m always on the hunt for new work while I’m working on existing jobs. It’s not an order notification. It’s a revision request. FOR WHAT? I don’t have any iffy clients in this batch.
I grab my phone and take a look. It’s that mother fucking real estate client. The hell is this shit. It passed the plagiarism checkers. All their core words were used, and even some of the shitty random ones. I had to stop trying to put random keywords in it because it was almost 4,000 words long. They were only paying for 3,000, and they don’t pay for extra words either.
NEVER CHANGE OUR HEADERS!
*squinty look* What? It’s literally in the directions that the outline can be adjusted. Someone did not take their meds. So, I pull up their client profile because they need to know that that’s not in their directions. In fact, the exact opposite is, and I’m happy to plug their shit back in, but it’ll probably flag as plagiarism. They need to know. Then, I see….
THIS CLIENT NO LONGER ACCEPTS WORK FROM YOU!
Fucking fine by me. I was going to block these mother fuckers after this stunt anyway. They can take a flying fucking leap. I threw the article back, noted that they owe me X, and I went back and calculated everything else they haven’t paid for and blocked them with a note that they owe me an apology and $300 before I ever work with them again, and they’ll have to find someone else to contact me about it, because I now no longer accept their messages.
Here’s the fun part, because all of their articles have between 500 and 1,000 keywords, I’m one of two writers that write their shit. The second writer drops those articles. He or she lets them expire. So, if I see a drop of 2 articles for this client, I take 1. I finish it before the expiration, and I wait for that second article, because that other author is going to drop it. They’re going to let it expire, and 90% of the time, I also get the second article. There is no one left who will do their work in a timely manner. They’re gonna be sorry about that in a week or two when they need more shit written, but no skin off my nose. Take your fucking meds and read your goddamned outline, because I’ve read it a hundred times.
I Go Back and Finish the Great Clients Legal Article
It takes me all day Monday to get the legal article finished, but I do it. Then, I decide to check to see if the fence is broke. I really need to go to Dollar General, but I really don’t want a 3 mile walk when 1.5 miles of that is backtracking due to not having a rear exit out of this park. The fence is not broken. Damn. Well, I’ll have to rethink that desire. While I’m out there, I check my mail.
HOLY SHIT THE CLIENT PAID.
I was not expecting a check. I was expecting a direct deposit somewhere around the 10th. Now, I say the 10th because if they miss the 26th payout, it's usually the 10th. However, that usually leaves me scrambling because the last day to pay rent is the 5th. Three days to quit is the 8th. The 9th is the eviction notice. The 10th could see me living under a bridge. And keep in mind, I don’t care how these guys pay. I just wish they’d give me a heads up when it’s a check because I don’t always check my mail, and by the 21st, 22nd, I'm usually in REEARN MODE. But needless to say, I was glad for all the work over the weekend even though, I really hate working 10 days straight. I like to take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. And now that I have all my money, I can get some shit settled and order those monitors.
I get that check remotely deposited, and I think about ordering those monitors. I better wait. The bank does give me up to X amount, but if that check bounces, it also subtracts that amount, and I don’t have rent + cell phone + monitor money in my account (There have been instances of banks not clearing checks for bullshit reasons or putting holds on them for no reason. It’s just better to wait). If I order those monitors and that check doesn’t clear or gets put on hold, I do NOT have rent, and this new piece of shit management company doesn’t offer halfsies, and they do charge a FEE to pay them. Not shitting you. I get charged fees for PAYING my fucking rent. I really wish I could get some excellent momentum on my books. I need a real house. It doesn’t have to be a nice one. I just need a real house that doesn’t come with FEES for paying the fucking mortgage beyond the interest. I am so sick of fees. When I went to pay my gas bill today. It was a whopping $20, they wanted to charge me $2.50 to pay by card. Fuck them too. I paid a free way. It’s absolutely bullshit that companies charge fees for bills that are literally owed to them. That is a cost of doing business. I don’t put surcharges for the electricity I used and my internet connection on articles that I write for clients. It’s part of doing business.
Could you freaking imagine? Yeah, I’ll write your article for $100, and there’s a $5 internet connection fee and a $3 electric surcharge. Just shaking my damned head.
On to Buying the Monitors and My Almost Terrible Mistake
Over the last week, I’ve managed to find all my weird cables and adapters. The monitors that I originally chose came with cables. It didn’t say what kind though, so it’s quite likely that they included VGA instead of HDMI, but they did come with cables.
HDMI Switch
I start looking real hard at the HDMI switch that I had in my cart. I really didn’t like the fact that it had a button and lights. This could mean that it only accepts 1 monitor at a time. I don’t need that, but the information doesn’t confirm one way or the other, and I can’t find any images that show two or three monitors plugged into that thing and working at the same time. I just can’t find it. So, I had to do the undesirable thing and load a video. I hate videos. If you have to load a video, you are stuck watching that video until you hit the information you need. This could waste many minutes. But I get to the information I need. It’s not a 1 IN and 3 OUT. It’s 3 IN and 1 OUT. This thing is meant for your TV to extend the capacity of the single HDMI slot on your TV. This would work well for people who have Roku sticks and gaming systems and something else. This is NOT what I need, and had I bought this, my situation would not have improved. This would have been a very nasty mistake to make., and I almost made it. It’s just a good thing I took another long, hard look at that switch.
HDMI Splitter
Apparently, an HDMI splitter and an HDMI switch are not the same thing. What I need is an HDMI splitter. I need something that takes 1 input and directs it to 3 monitors. These are not $10. I manage to find one that’s $18.99 with a $2 coupon. $16.99. This is getting more expensive, but this offers an extra port, so if I feel like I need a fourth or fifth monitor (depending on how I set this up), I can do that and not have to buy another splitter. the downside is that this one needs additional power.
22” Monitors
So, at this point, I’ve got my $60 Packard Bell monitors and $17 splitter, but WAIT! The shipping time for those monitors has increased from 2 days to 2 WEEKS. Of course, now that I'm going back to grab images, it, all of a sudden, says it can be delivered by Saturday, August 3rd. Uh huh... That's not what it said this morning. Secondary to this is that the monitors are from a 3rd party and don’t count toward the $35 free shipping, so not only am I going to get those monitors very late, I’m now going to get charged an extra $7 by Amazon. That’s not gonna work for me.
So, I go back through the monitors and search for something shipped by Amazon because I’m trying to not pay a fortune in fees while also dealing with intolerably slow shipping. I find 2more 22” monitors by Phillips for $70 each. So, that’s an extra $20. They’re probably better monitors. I hope. My first set didn’t come with great reviews, and to be honest, I didn't even know that Packard Bell was still in business.
So, I get to the shipping part of it. The splitter is going to be fairly fast. Friday. The monitors for Monday. This is without an Amazon Prime membership. When I say I’m broke, I mean it. The starving artist thing is real. I can’t afford $15 extra every month. But I need those monitors sooner than Monday. I could lose more than $20 between now and Monday in lost work.
I decided to hit that free 30 day Amazon prime membership. It doesn’t do much for the shipping. The splitter will be here tomorrow, which is useless without the monitors. The Monitors are so far scheduled to be delivered by Friday, which is a day AFTER I need them. I have a meeting Thursday afternoon, and I need to get prepared for that meeting. I need two monitors in order to make sure I am prepared. We’ll see. I hope they put the hurry up on those monitors.
All in all, I got out of it for $160. I found some coupons and whatnot. I guess that’s not bad. I should be back up and running to full capacity by this weekend. I am running behind on The Tiny vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey 22, but as you can see, it’s been a fucked up week to the extreme.
